Tennis

Nadal scrapes through, Roddick out at Queen’s

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-06-11 15:56

Photographers take pictures as Rafael Nadal of Spain is assisted by a medic during his tennis match against Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan at the Queen's Club Championships in west London June 10, 2010. [Agencies]

LONDON - Rafael Nadal picked himself up off the Queen's Club lawns on Thursday to move into the quarter-finals but Israel's Dudi Sela wreaked havoc with Andy Roddick's Wimbledon tune-up at the grasscourt tournament.

World number one Nadal, champion here in 2008 before rolling on to win the Wimbledon title, needed treatment on his backside during an awkward third-round match against Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin before scraping through in three sets.

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Serbia's second seed Novak Djokovic joined Roddick out the exit door, losing to Belgium's Xavier Malisse 6-3 4-6 6-2 while defending champion Andy Murray was tied at 3-3 in the deciding set with American Mardy Fish when bad light stopped play.

Fifth seed Marin Cilic also tumbled on a bad day for the top seeds, the Croat beaten 7-6 6-2 by France's Michael Llodra.

Nadal did survive, just and insisted he would continue in the tournament despite his injury scare.

"I just had a pain behind the leg and wanted the physio to check that it wasn't dangerous to carry on," the 24-year-old Spaniard said after a 7-6 4-6 6-4 win in a cool, swirling wind.

"I felt something and I will have some more tests. I will be careful but I'd love to play tomorrow."

Nadal, who won a fifth French Open title on Sunday, gets to play at least one more singles here to help with the tricky transition between slow bouncy clay and skiddy London grass.