Nadal struggles with balky knee, while Federer crushes Capdeville

The second-seeded Nadal looks to be in trouble at the U.S. Open.

NEW YORK (AP) — Playing on a taped-up knee so painful he almost pulled out of the U.S. Open, Rafael Nadal was hardly at his imposing best Wednesday.

It was a struggle to sprint, and he scuffled against a foe who never has won a Grand Slam match, let alone a title. On a day when his rival, No. 1 Roger Federer, won easily, three-time French Open winner Nadal hardly looked ready to flourish at Flushing Meadows, where his career mark is worse than at any other major.

To improve on that, Nadal will need to recover quickly and perform better than he did before eventually earning a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 first-round victory over Australian wild-card entry Alun Jones, whose claim to fame is a bit part in the film “Wimbledon.”

“I didn’t run too much, no? I can’t move too much,” the No. 2-seeded Nadal said. “Difficult to play like this, especially here.”

Federer had no difficulty at all Wednesday night, when he was dressed for a formal affair as he bids to become the first man since the 1920s to claim four consecutive U.S. championships. He strode out for his 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Paul Capdeville in black, head-to-toe: bandanna, wrist band, shirt, shorts, socks and shoes. The shorts even had satin stripes down the sides.

“A little bit of the tuxedo look,” Federer said. “It’s something special.”

The only real fight Capdeville put up was directed at the chair umpire, who wouldn’t let him challenge a call at the end of the second set because the replay request came too late.

Tall task

Now Federer faces a much taller task: His third-round opponent is John Isner, the 6-foot-9 American who only a few months ago was playing college tennis for Georgia. With fans barking for their favorite Bulldog, Isner followed up his first-round upset of No. 26 Jarkko Nieminen by beating Rik de Voest of South Africa 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

During an on-court interview, Isner was asked to look ahead to the matchup with Federer.

“Is he good?” Isner said with a knowing laugh.

Like Federer, other past U.S. Open champions in action won in straight sets: Venus and Serena Williams, Justine Henin and Marat Safin. Nadal would love to join that club, and he and Federer have been building quite a rivalry, combining to corral the last 10 Grand Slam titles and meeting in four of the past six major finals.

Nadal is 2-0 against Federer in title matches at Roland Garros. Federer is 2-0 against Nadal in title matches at the All England Club. So the tennis world has been looking forward to a tiebreaker on the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center’s blue hard court.

Knee pain

But Nadal felt a “sharp pain” in his left knee Sunday, toward the end of a practice session. The next day, Nadal didn’t practice at all and figured he would have to withdraw from the year’s last Grand Slam tournament.

Nadal had an MRI exam that showed no significant damage, so he spent Monday and Tuesday getting treatment on the knee from a doctor and a trainer. That helped, but Nadal acknowledged he might not have been on court Wednesday were this any other tournament.

He only has been beyond the U.S. Open’s third round once, reaching the quarterfinals last year. And there were moments when it appeared he might be in real trouble against Jones.

Quite a thrill, even if, as Jones put it, “I don’t think he was at 100 percent. Only heard the grunt a few times.”

Indeed, the indefatigable Nadal said he took it a tad easy so as not to risk further damage to his left knee. He’s been dealing with a right knee problem since the Wimbledon final and wore tape below that joint, too.