World No 1 Rafael Nadal was forced to dig deep at the Paris Masters on Thursday after a recurrence of a knee injury nearly put a dampener on his campaign.
Nadal used his renowned work ethic to overcome Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas, having already secured the year-end world No 1 ranking.
The Spaniard, who withdrew from Basel with a knee problem, looked to have suffered a recurrence of the injury during his round-of-16 clash against unseeded Cuevas.
But he battled through on the unforgiving Parisian centre court to record a 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 victory in a match lasting two hours and 20 minutes.
"It was a very difficult match, Pablo is a very good player," Nadal said in his on-court interview. "It's always hard playing someone for the first time, but I will do my best (against Krajinovic)."
Nadal's injury is a blow to his hopes of winning his maiden title in Paris which would take him clear of Novak Djokovic with a record 31st Masters triumph and may even cast doubts over his participation at the season-ending ATP Finals in London from 12-19 November - live on Sky Sports.
The 31-year-old is scheduled to take on Serbian qualifier Filip Krajinovic for a place in the semi-finals on Friday after the world No 77 upset Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-2 3-6 6-1 earlier in the day.
The season-ending extravaganza ATP Finals at London's O2 this November ends another memorable year.
All the action will be covered via our website sky.mnosports.com/tennis with live blogs, reports and expert analysis as the season reaches its climax.
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