Rafael Nadal has a badly blistered left hand and fears it will affect his serve when he faces Roger Federer in the Australian Open semi-final tomorrow.
The world No 1 had to call the tour physio on court to carry out running repairs to his palm, and finished his quarter-finalvictory over Grigor Dimitrov with the whole area strapped.
"It's not a big issue with the forehand but with the serve it is a bit," he said.
"With the tape on I can lose the racket when serving. That's a terrible feeling, because then you are not able to accelerate at the right moment. You lose a bit of co-ordination, so I served slow and I served bad.
"But I was still able to win against a difficult opponent, so that has more value than when everything is just great."
Nadal was off his game but still managed to win 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-2 against the hugely gifted Bulgarian, who was playing his first Grand Slam last-eight match.
Dimitrov, 22, was in tears after missing a simple forehand on set point in the third set that could have changed the outcome.
