PARIS (AP) In full control of the French Open final, a rather familiar position for him, Rafael Nadal suddenly was worried.
He led by two sets plus a break early in the third, when the middle finger on his racket-wielding left hand was cramping so badly he couldnt straighten it. After serving a fault, Nadal took the unusual step of heading to the sideline in the middle of a game.
Tough moment, Nadal would say later. I was very scared.
Up in the stands, Nadals uncle Toni, his former coach, was nervous, too, because I thought maybe we can have a problem, he said. But in the end, it was not too difficult.