MELBOURNE, Australia — Rafael Nadal bow when changing and rest his elbows on his knees, a sign of resignation.
The already bad start to 2023, after a year marred by all kinds of health problems, scored low at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
The defending champion and number 1 seed at Melbourne Park, Nadal suffered a left hip injury and lost Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in the second round, abruptly ending his record-long 23rd Grand Slam title run.
“It was a difficult time. It was a difficult day,” said Nadal. “I can’t say I’m not spiritually ruined at the moment, because I would lie.”
The 36-year-old Spaniard awkwardly pulled the end of the second set against 65th-placed McDonald.
Nadal was visited on the sidelines by a coach then left the field to await medical time. In the stands, his wife wiped her tears. Nadal was back in action but physically damaged and not his usual tireless self, he later said he couldn’t hit his backhand properly and couldn’t run much either. .
But Nadal added that, as the defending champion of the tournament, he did not want to leave the court during a break midway.
He says the hip has been bothering him for a few days but it has never been as bad as Wednesday. Nadal isn’t exactly sure of the nature of the injury, saying he will have a medical check-up to determine if it involves muscles, joints or cartilage.
“It’s never over until it’s over”. He doesn’t even want to roll around and give up. He basically keeps fighting until the end, even though he may not play all his games,” said McDonald, a 27-year-old American who won NCAA championships in singles and doubles. for UCLA in 2016.
“I was in the dressing room,” McDonald said of the aftermath of the game, “and I said, ‘Hey, that’s really big for me, because I’ve never beaten someone of my caliber. so.”
This is Nadal’s earliest start at any Grand Slam since being knocked out in the first round in Melbourne in 2016 by 45th place. Fernando Verdasco. It also makes Verdasco the lowest ranked player to beat Nadal in Australia – until, of course, before McDonald’s on Wednesday.
McDonald’s has never made it past the fourth round at a major tournament. In the only previous match against Nadal, at the French Open 2020, McDonald won only a total of four games with a strong loss.
“He kicked my ass,” McDonald recalled Wednesday.
Joining McDonald’s in round 3 is a fellow American Frances Tiafoeseed number 16 and number 15 sinner Jannik of Italy.
Tiafoe said of McDonald’s: “I told him, ‘You’re going to be in a position to win today. You can win today’.’ Tiafoe said of McDonald’s.” ‘GOAT victory’ doesn’t come easy. Something to say to his grandchildren one day, and you have to be happy for that guy.”
A year ago, Nadal won the Australian Open for a second time to claim his 21st major championship, and then he raised his total to 22 – the most for a man – at Roland Garros.
Currently ranked 2nd, but Nadal used to be the number 1 seed at Melbourne Park because of the number 1 Carlos Alcaraz sitting outside the Australian Open with an injured leg.
Nadal’s body has betrayed him quite a bit lately.
England needed pain relief injections for his left foot on the way to winning the French Open last June, pulled out of Wimbledon in July ahead of the semi-finals with a tear in his abs and also had to deal with a rib cartilage problem this year. 2022.
Nadal’s departure drains the tournament’s star power. In addition to his absence and Alcaraz, Wimbledon 2022 runner-up Nick Kyrgios withdrew because left knee needed arthroscopic surgery, 4 times Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka stopped touring while pregnant, two-time major champion Simona Halep is serving a temporary doping ban and Venus Williams hurt.
It’s all above all: The 2023 Australian Open is the first Grand Slam since then Serena Williams and Federer announced their retirement.
Nadal arrived in Melbourne with a 0-2 record this season, leaving him 1-6 in September, when he lost Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round of the US Open.
Even in Monday’s first-round victory, a four-setter resisted a cramp Jack Dropper, Nadal never seemed to be at his best in chasing every ball, sending every high spin on target. He looks, somehow, his age.
The same thing happened at the beginning with McDonald’s.
“I’m really happy with the way I started that game. I thought I played really well, great serve, good return,” McDonald said. “So I actually gave it to him.”
That’s right. From the very beginning, McDonald’s started and Nadal took a break.
The first set served as a harbinger: McDonald’s took a 1-0 lead thanks to a trio of unwarranted errors by Nadal – two from his dreaded left-handed error.
Unlike that, Nadal argued back and forth with umpire Marijana Veljovic during halftime over whether she started the serve clock between points too quickly for his liking.
Soon, McDonald’s was ready. Then he rested right in the second time.
After a point in that set, Nadal showed signs of really struggling. He squatted behind the end line and put his racket on the court. He then walked over and leaned against a sign, prompting Veljovic to ask if Nadal was okay.
Nadal watched a few serves from a McDonald’s racket fly past him which were then examined by the coach. Although the match was going to take place, it was basically over at that moment.
