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Nadal Tests Injury in Front of Packed French Open Stands

Painful exit: Rafael Nadal leaves the court in Rome last week Andreas SOLARO AFP/File
Painful exit: Rafael Nadal leaves the court in Rome last week Andreas SOLARO AFP/File
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Nadal Tests Injury in Front of Packed French Open Stands

Painful exit: Rafael Nadal leaves the court in Rome last week Andreas SOLARO AFP/File
Painful exit: Rafael Nadal leaves the court in Rome last week Andreas SOLARO AFP/File

Rafael Nadal tested out his injured foot in his first practice at the French Open on Wednesday without any obvious discomfort.

Nadal, the 13-time champion at Roland Garros, delighted fans who packed two sides of the 15,000-capacity Court Philippe Chatrier in the baking Paris sun, AFP said.

Welcomed by the watching Stefanos Tsitsipas, the world number four who was runner-up at the tournament in 2021, Nadal hit with Spanish compatriot Jaume Munar.

It was the 35-year-old Nadal's first public appearance since suffering a recurrence of a chronic foot injury in his Italian Open third round loss to Denis Shapovalov last week.

"I'm not injured, I am a player living with an injury. That's it," Nadal told reporters in Rome.

"It's something that is there unfortunately and my day by day is difficult. I am trying hard but of course it is difficult for me. A lot of days I can't practice."

On Wednesday, Nadal gave no indication that the effects of the injury had followed him to the French capital as he practiced for two hours.

The Spanish star, chasing a record-extending 22nd Grand Slam title, will learn his first round opponent in Thursday's draw.

Nadal, defeated in the semi-finals by eventual champion Novak Djokovic 12 months ago, has an astonishing record of 105 victories against just three losses at the tournament since his title-winning debut in 2005.

The French Open gets underway on Sunday.

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Townsend, Siniakova Win Women's Doubles at Australian Open

TOPSHOT - USA's Taylor Townsend (L) and Czech Republic's Katerina Siniakova celebrate with the trophy after their victory against Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei and Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in their women's doubles final match on day fifteen of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 26, 2025. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP)
TOPSHOT - USA's Taylor Townsend (L) and Czech Republic's Katerina Siniakova celebrate with the trophy after their victory against Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei and Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in their women's doubles final match on day fifteen of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 26, 2025. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP)
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Townsend, Siniakova Win Women's Doubles at Australian Open

TOPSHOT - USA's Taylor Townsend (L) and Czech Republic's Katerina Siniakova celebrate with the trophy after their victory against Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei and Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in their women's doubles final match on day fifteen of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 26, 2025. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP)
TOPSHOT - USA's Taylor Townsend (L) and Czech Republic's Katerina Siniakova celebrate with the trophy after their victory against Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei and Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in their women's doubles final match on day fifteen of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 26, 2025. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP)

Taylor Townsend of the United States returned to the court on which her career first took flight, teaming with Katerina Siniakova to beat Hsieh Su-Wei and Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in the women's doubles final Sunday at the Australian Open.
“This is super-special to me,” The Associated Press quoted Townsend as saying. "The last time I played on this court I was 15 and in 2012 I won the juniors here and that was the kick-start.
“Honestly, being here is so special to me because this tournament was the beginning of me being able to live out my dream.”
Top-seeded Townsend and Siniakova of the Czech Republic led 6-2, 5-3 and served for the match for the first time at 5-4 in the second set. But third-seeded Hsieh and Ostapenko rallied to take the second set in a tie-break and to hold an early break in the third.
Taylor and Siniakova were able to fall back on proven teamwork on crucial points. This was their third Grand Slam together: they won Wimbledon last year and reached the semifinals of the US Open.
They were also able to exploit a hint of weakness on Hsieh's serve with Ostapenko at the net, breaking her four times in the match including in the ninth game of the final set. Siniakova then served out the match, with Townsend providing the finishing touch at the net.
The match was played in warm conditions on the Australia Day national holiday. The temperature was around 22C (71.6F) mid-afternoon and the court was warm, causing the ball to skip through quicker, particularly from the left-handed Townsend.
Siniakova and Townsend raced to a 5-1 lead inside 30 minutes and while Hsieh managed to hold at 5-2 in the best game of the set, Siniakova held to love to close out the first set in 37 minutes.
Win or lose Siniakova was going to extend her stay atop the WTA doubles rankings to 136 weeks, the fifth-best run of all-time. She has reached the semifinals or better at the last five grand slams.
The second set, much the same as the first, began with Ostapenko and Townsend holding serve, then Hsieh was broken at 2-1.
Ostapenko held at 2-3 and there was noticeable lift in intensity from the third seeds, a recognition of the importance of the moment and they managed to break Townsend to level at 3-3.
But another Hsieh service break gave Townsend the opportunity to serve for the match at 5-4 but again, Ostapenko and Hsieh rallied to level at 5-all. Hsieh then managed a crucial hold with Ostapenko occasionally starting at the back of the court, rather than at the net.
Siniakova's hold sent the set into a tie-break in which Ostapenko and Hseih picked up two points off Townsend at 5-4 and 6-4 to level the match.
The complexion of the game had changed and the third seeds were able to break Siniakova for the first time in the opening game of the third set, though Siniakova and Townsend immediately broke Ostapenko to level at 1-all.
Hsieh was broken again in the ninth game and this time Siniakova didn't miss.