The men’s quarters will be played today, with Nadal vs. No. 10 Mardy Fish of the United States; Murray vs. unseeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain; Federer vs. No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France; and Djokovic vs. 18-year-old Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic, the youngest men’s quarterfinalist since Boris Becker in 1986.
Nadal said he was “worried” whether he would be fit for today’s match against Fish.
“I cannot predict the future,” he said. “Let’s see what’s going on and let’s see how the MRI looks. And after, let’s see if we have the chance to recover for Wednesday. I don’t know.”
In fact he is not seriously injured and will play today.
Nadal, a two-time champion at the All England Club, hurt his left foot in the first set of Monday's fourth-round win over Juan Martin del Potro. He twice called for a trainer during the set, but still managed to win 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4.
After the match, he went to a London hospital for an MRI exam, but the results were negative.
"During the match I thought I had something serious but as the match went through the pain got better and thankfully the tests don't show an injury," Nadal said yesterday in a statement. "Today I will practice at 4:30 p.m. and I'll play tomorrow."
Nadal said he felt something "crush" in his left foot during the match against Del Potro, making him worry that it might be broken. He said he even contemplated retiring from the match.
"I felt (like) I broke my foot at that moment," Nadal said Monday.
Nadal is 30-2 at Wimbledon since the start of the 2006 tournament. He lost to Roger Federer that year and the next in the final, but then beat the Swiss in the 2008 championship match. Nadal was unable to defend his title in 2009 because of injury, but he won again in 2010.
The top-ranked Spaniard also won his sixth French Open title this month, equaling Bjorn Borg's record. Overall, Nadal has won 10 major titles, including one at the Australian Open and one at the U.S. Open.
Federer lost his first set of the tournament before coming back to down Mikhail Youzhny 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to reach his 29th successive Grand Slam quarterfinal. Extending his career record against the Russian to 11-0, Federer also won his 100th career match on grass.
Murray swept Richard Gasquet of France 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-2 - then took a majestic bow to the Royal Box, where William and Kate joined the rest of the crowd in a standing ovation. Murray is trying to become the first British man to win the title at the All England Club since Fred Perry in 1936.
Murray met the royal couple after the match and offered a sheepish apology.
“If I’d known they were coming, I would have shaved,” the Scot said with a smile. “I was thinking to myself as I came off I was sweaty and very hairy. I said to them, ‘I’m sorry, I’m a bit sweaty.’ But it was really nice.”