Fernando lost his third round match in Madrid against Jurgen Melzer, 5-7, 3-6. It was their third meeting this year (after Miami and Barcelona) and in both previous matches, Fernando lost the first set, forced a tiebreak and won the third , but this time, Melzer was in good form and Fernando, who had several chances to take the first set, was unable to convert and made some costly errors. In addition, he was dealing with a swollen ankle.

“Obviously I didn’t feel very well or very comfortable at any point in the match; even when I was ahead in the first set. I think he deserved to win more than I did; he played better than I did. Playing in my own city and not playing well is really disappointing. Losing at home and at a Masters 1000 hurts more than it did to lose in the final in Kuala Lumpur. Right now I’m pretty disappointed.”

Fernando said that his ankle was injured in his opening match against Karlovic, which was part of the reason he chose not to play doubles. “Today I played with the right ankle bandaged, and in the first set I got a blister on the tendon by the bandage, but the ankle was not the reason for the defeat.”

He said his injury is not serious, and that “if everything goes well, I will go to Nice to pick up some pace ahead of Paris. It is an area that is difficult to see because it is between the tendons of the right ankle. It is a nuisance I would rather not have, but if the doctors say its nothing serious, I will be able to go into Paris positively and believe that I can reach one hundred percent there.”