Injured Nadal out in the second round of Australian Open
Tennis legend Rafael Nadal is out of the Australian Open after being defeated in the second round by American Mackenzie McDonald.
Nadal’s Australian Open title defence struggled due to the Spanish star being injured.
Nadal, 36, was trailing by a set and a break when he appeared to be struggling with a hip problem.
He took a medical timeout towards the end of the second set and continued with the match, but ultimately slipped to a 6-4 6-3 7-5 defeat.
It’s his earliest Australian Open exit since 2016.
Nadal had an incredible 2022, where he managed to come back from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev in last year’s final in Melbourne and won a record-extending 14th French Open in June.
But a tough performance in the Wimbledon quarter-finals led him to pick up an abdominal injury that affected the rest of the season.
He arrived in Melbourne having lost his only two singles matches of the season and struggled with his hip throughout the match with McDonald.
Nadal left the court to a standing ovation from the crowd.
