A obviously suffering Rafael Nadal lost his second-round match at the Australian Open to Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 on Wednesday, suddenly halting his title defense and pursuit for a record-extending 23rd Grand Slam triumph.
The 35-year-old Spaniard pulled up awkwardly after the conclusion of a point in the late stages of the second set against the 65th-ranked McDonald. It was not immediately apparent what ailment he was suffering from.
Nadal, the top-seeded player, was attended to by a trainer on the sidelines before leaving the court for a medical timeout. His wife, seated in the stands, wiped away tears. Nadal returned to play, but was physically hampered and not his normal tireless self.
“He’s an outstanding champion. McDonald, a 27-year-old American who won NCAA titles in singles and doubles for UCLA in 2016, remarked, “He never gives up, regardless of the circumstances, so it’s always difficult to close out a match against a quality player like that.” In the end, I prevailed by maintaining a focus on myself.
This marks Nadal’s quickest departure from a Grand Slam tournament since losing to No. 45 Fernando Verdasco in the first round of the 2016 Australian Open. This also made Verdasco the lowest-ranked player to upset Nadal in Australia until Wednesday, of course, when McDonald accomplished the task.
McDonald has never been past the fourth round in a major competition. In his lone prior clash versus Nadal, at the 2020 French Open, McDonald won a total of just four games in a crushing defeat.
“He kicked me in the groin,” McDonald remembered on Wednesday.
A year ago, Nadal won the Australian Open for the second time and earned his 21st major title. He then surpassed Roger Federer’s record of 22 major titles by winning Roland Garros.
He is now rated No. 2 but was the top seed at Melbourne Park because No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz is sitting out the Australian Open with a sore leg.
Recently, Nadal has contended with a few of health difficulties.
In order to win the French Open on June of last year, he had pain-relieving injections in his left foot. He also withdrew from the Wimbledon semifinals in July of last year due to a damaged abdominal muscle. In 2022, he suffered with an issue with his rib cartilage.
The elimination of Nadal saps the event of even more star power. In addition to his and Alcaraz’s absences, 2022 Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios withdrew due to arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka is off the tour due to her pregnancy, two-time major champion Simona Halep is serving a provisional doping ban, and Venus Williams is injured.
In addition, the 2023 Australian Open will be the first Grand Slam competition since Serena Williams and Roger Federer declared their retirements.
Since September, when he fell to Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round of the U.S. Open, Nadal entered the Australian Open with a record of 1-6.
Even during Monday’s first-round triumph, a four-setter against a cramping Jack Draper, Nadal did not appear to be at his best in terms of chasing every ball and placing every high-spin smash on target. He appeared to be his age.
The same was true of McDonald from the beginning.
“I’m quite pleased with how I began the match. McDonald stated, “I believed I was playing quite well, serving well, and returning well as well.” Therefore, I was taking it to him.