Rafael Nadal through to French Open fourth round despite back problem

It is unlike Rafael Nadal to talk about injuries, and especially so during tournaments. So the Spaniard’s admission that his back is giving him trouble will have made Novak Djokovic and the rest of the title contenders sit up. Sporting a vertical piece of strapping on his lower back, Nadal said he had felt some pain after his first match and struggled on serve in his past two matches.
It could all be a way of deflecting the pressure as he tries to fend off Djokovic and co to win a record-extending ninth French Open title but Nadal rarely resorts to mind games in public. It was a back injury that plagued him when he was beaten in the final of the Australian Open in January and if he is feeling pain or discomfort, then it is unlikely to help.
While Andy Murray was busy battling it out against Philipp Kohlschreiber on Saturday night, Nadal was safely recovering after beating Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 to reach the fourth round, without dropping a set. But the Nadal camp fears Djokovic and the Serb, who plays Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in round four on Sunday, is already sniffing blood, so he hardly needs any extra incentive.
“I felt a little bit my back, so that’s why I slow down a little bit the serve,” Nadal said after his 31st straight win here, which set up a match with unseeded Serbian Dusan Lajovic. “I felt a little bit from the beginning. In the second match I was not serving that fast, too.” Nadal, who turns 28 on Tuesday, said he did not want to go into details and then tried to play it down, insisting: “I’d rather not talk about my back. You know, I’ve reached week No2. I’ll do my best, I’ll play as best as I can, I’ll put up a good fight to try and win. My back is not that important.”
When asked why he had even brought it up, the world No1 said: “Well, I don’t usually lie. As I said, my back was hurting a little, and this is what I said on day No1. During the second day, as well. So that’s why I served more slowly since I started feeling the pain.”

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/may/31/rafael-nadal-french-open-2014-beat-leornado-mayer-back-injury