Nadal gained the Australian Open and French Open titles earlier this yr however an stomach damage compelled him to withdraw from Wimbledon within the semi-finals, handing Nick Kyrgios a passage to the decider gained by Novak Djokovic.
The 22-time main champion is on a mission to clinch three of the 4 Grand Slam titles this calendar yr in Djokovic’s absence in New York.
The 36-year-old Spaniard will face veteran Richard Gasquet within the third spherical, towards whom Nadal has a exceptional 17-0 head-to-head document.
Nadal’s 2-6 6-4 6-2 6-1 win over Fognini additionally meant he additionally turned the primary participant to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin.
However the present world quantity three has larger fish to fry, needing to take care of his excellent document from 2022 within the majors for a fifth US Open crown.
If profitable, Nadal will not fairly declare a Grand Slam schedule – achieved by solely 5 gamers in singles historical past in Don Budge (1938), Maureen Connolly (1953), Rod Laver (1962, 1969), Margaret Court docket (1970) and Steffi Graf (1988) – however he would have achieved a staggering 26-0 document within the majors for 2022.