RAFAEL NADAL’S QUEST to keep hold of his Wimbledon crown could be ended prematurely, as he waits to discover the extent of the foot injury he suffered in his defeat of Juan Martin del Potro on Monday evening.

The Spaniard picked up the injury before the first set tie break, receiving ten minutes of treatment before being deemed fit to continue. He subsequently ran out a 7-6 (8/6) 3-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 winner.

Despite playing three further sets and finishing out the match on Centre Court, the 25-year-old is concerned that a scan on the injury will result in him missing a quarter-final clash with Mardy Fish.

“I have to go for an MRI (scan). I don’t know right now (whether I can play on). I felt really bad during the first set,” revealed Nadal, who missed the tournament in 2008 due to a serious knee injury.

“I am worried for sure. I will have the scan and then let’s see if I can recover for Wednesday. At 6-5 I felt terrible. I felt that I had broken my foot. The point at deuce and the point that gave me set point, I felt terrible.

“I asked for the trainer at that moment when the game was done. I seriously didn’t know at that moment if I had a chance to continue playing.

“At 6-5, I pushed hard with the forehand and I felt like something crushed, there in the back of the outside of the foot.”

Nadal is favourite to win this year’s championship and has only dropped one set in three matches so far. He was joined in the quarter-finals by Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, who all won their third round clashes on Monday.

- additional reporting AP