Rafael Nadal

Defending champion Rafael Nadal hobbled out of the second round in a major upset at the Australian Open on Wednesday, but there was no such trouble for the ...

The outside courts belatedly saw action in the early evening, but six hours of play was lost. Nadal says he feels ‘quite ready’ for Australian Open defence](/sport/tennis/australian-open/will-it-be-another-miracle-in-melbourne-rafael-nadal-says-he-feels-quite-ready-for-australian-open-defence-10ed7bf9-1570-5327-91b8-d554608fd08f) [Djokovic the man to beat at Australian Open but can rival Nadal win NO 23?](/sport/tennis/australian-open/novak-djokovic-the-man-to-beat-at-australian-open-but-can-rival-rafael-nadal-win-no-23-30906f15-f25e-40be-87f4-80f8e57dbf6f) "But the way that some players celebrate their points, it's not appropriate. The 3rd set was insane... Don't think I'm saying all this because I want to take a step back. what I want is to continue playing tennis.

Rafael Nadal lost to unseeded American Mackie McDonald in the second round of the 2023 Australian Open. The 22-time Grand Slam champion injured his hip after ...

It's the amount of work that you need to put together to come back at a decent level. "I really hope that [the injury doesn't] put me out of the court for a long time, because then it's tough to make all of the recovery again," Nadal said after Wednesday's loss. "You can't imagine — I don't need to talk and explain the feelings," Nadal said of his disappointment. After cutting his 2021 season short due to a lingering left foot injury, Nadal rebounded brilliantly to open 2022 with back-to-back Grand Slam victories — at the Australian Open and Roland Garros. "Can't say that I am not destroyed mentally at this time, because I would be lying," he added. Worse, still, for Nadal and his supporters: The 36-year-old suffered a left hip injury while trailing during the second set.

The lingering wave goodbye and the tears of his wife in the stand were a reminder that Rafael Nadal will not go on for ever.

‘I have history with issues in the hip. ‘I can’t say that I am not destroyed mentally at this time, because I will be lying. ‘I can’t complain about my life at all. The reigning champion admitted he was struggling with the issue prior to the match [‘destroyed mentally’](/sport/tennis/article-11648193/Rafael-Nadal-admits-mentally-destroyed-Australian-Open-defence-ended-injury.html) after injury hastened his demise in the [Australian Open](/sport/australian_open/index.html) second round. - He was visibly struggling with a hip injury but refused to retire from the match

Rafael Nadal leaves the court after losing to Mackenzie McDonald in the Australian Open. MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/AFP via Getty Images. CNN ...

“He’s going to be the first one to bring it up and I think he deserves that. You are doing the things that you want to do.” “I don’t think we need to speculate constantly about when that’s going to be. When he feels right, it’s going to be right. “When you like do one thing, at the end, sacrifices always make sense, because the ‘sacrifice’ word is not like this. Ultimately, it’s up to him. “I like playing tennis and I know it’s not forever. This new injury is the latest in a long list that have hampered Nadal throughout his career. “It’s very simple: I like what I do,” Nadal told reporters, per ESPN. “Here we are again, six months later, and he’s dealing with another issue in that same area. That’s the sport at the same time – just try your best until the end.” “It’s better like this at the end.

Nadal, who has won 22 Grand Slams, lost in the second round to Mackenzie McDonald, an American who has never cracked the Top 40 in the world rankings.

Nadal will likely take a break to get healthy again, then, if he can, turn his focus to the spring clay-court season and the French Open. At other moments of disappointment, Nadal has been able to appear philosophical, expressing thanks for the good fortune of his life. Nadal arrived in Australia in December to play for Spain in the inaugural United Cup, a rare competition with both men and women. He also has had to adjust to fatherhood after the birth of his first child, a son, in October. Tiafoe was the first American-born player to beat Nadal at a Grand Slam in nearly two decades. He quickly returned to form and won the final in Melbourne after being two sets down against Daniil Medvedev of Russia. Before the injury, McDonald stood on the baseline and beat Nadal at his own game, meeting Nadal’s power and topspin with his own flatter version of it, curling forehands just above the net and sending Nadal chasing the ball from corner to corner. [Carlos Alcaraz](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/06/sports/tennis/carlos-alcaraz-australian-open.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-australian-open&variant=show®ion=MAIN_CONTENT_1&block=storyline_top_links_recirc), [Naomi Osaka](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/08/sports/tennis/naomi-osaka-withdraws-australian-open.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-australian-open&variant=show®ion=MAIN_CONTENT_1&block=storyline_top_links_recirc)and [Nick Kyrgios](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/16/sports/tennis/nick-kyrgios-australian-open.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-australian-open&variant=show®ion=MAIN_CONTENT_1&block=storyline_top_links_recirc)have all pulled out of the tournament. Down one set and on the ropes against Mackenzie McDonald in the second round of the Australian Open on Wednesday, Nadal injured his hip while chasing down a shot in the eighth game of the second set. Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz beat Nadal later in the fall in other tournaments, when the Spaniard was trying to return late in the season from an abdominal injury. Knowing his day and his tournament were all but done, he watched two aces blaze by, bringing him to the brink of going down two-sets-to-love against McDonald, a 27-year-old American who has never cracked the Top 40 in the world rankings. He somehow stayed even with McDonald through the first 10 games of the second set, hobbling around, taking wild cuts to try to end points quickly.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion suffered a hip injury during the second round upset.

[a rough losing streak](https://www.si.com/tennis/2022/11/16/tennis-mailbag-nadal-female-coaches-fort-worth) at the moment, dropping seven of his last nine matches. “Mackenzie played at a great level and I wish him the best for the rest of the tournament. Many thanks to all for the support and the great moments you make me live here. Sad for leaving soon this great tournament and very thankful once again to all, fans, organizers, amazing crowds…” Nadal appeared hurt in the second set as he was visited by a trainer and then used a medical timeout. Since then, he’s won eight Grand Slam titles.

Stubbs made her prediction after watching the 22-time grand slam champion get a standing ovation as he left the court after his straight-sets loss to ...

It's all the amount of work that you need to put together to come back at a decent level. And that was not my case. The good news? This time last year, he reeled off 21 straight match wins to begin 2022. 'It's not only the recovery. I think his swan song will be at RG.

In the eagerly anticipated women's singles clash between Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu, the American triumphed over the Brit in straight sets, though she had to ...

[Australian Open](https://www.tennis365.com/category/australian-open/) How do you recover from that?! [News](https://www.tennis365.com/category/news/) “How did she not remember that? I need to work on that a bit!” I just told myself at least you didn’t face plant on the floor, I was trying to keep things in perspective.

Tennis player Rafael Nadal shrugs while sitting in a press conference at the Australian Open. Rafael Nadal seemed genuinely unsure about his future in tennis ...

No man has won a major older than him since Ken Rosewall in the early 1970s. At this stage we don't even know if he will get on the clay, but if he wants to make a play for his 15th French Open title, Nadal knows it will be the biggest fight of his career. Hopefully it's nothing too bad. [the rise of world number one Iga Świątek](/news/2022-04-05/ash-barty-retirement-made-iga-swiatek-cry-for-40-minutes-tennis/100965784), who already has three majors on two surfaces at just 21 years of age. The last time Nadal exited a major before the third round was 2016, when he was ousted in the first round of the same tournament by Fernando Verdasco, then had to withdraw before the third round at his beloved French Open with a wrist injury, skipped Wimbledon and lost in the fourth round of the US Open. The Spaniard said he's had problems with his hip in the recent and distant past "but it was not this amount of problem when I feel I cannot move".

Rafael Nadal updated his fans by revealing the results of an MRI following an injury he suffered in the second round of the Australian Open.

He also competed in the [United Cup](https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/archive/brisbane-perth-sydney/9900/2023/results) to begin his season. At 3-4 in the second set against McDonald, the Spaniard chased a forehand wide and aggravated an injury that he admitted he had felt for a couple of days. "The MRI shows a grade 2 injury in the iliopsoas muscle in my left leg.

Rafael Nadal underwent a scan in Melbourne on Thursday morning that showed a grade two tear of his iliopsoas muscle, sustained during his second-round exit ...

Let's see how the A six-to-eight-week recuperation would allow Nadal to return well before the clay court season and the run-up to the defence of his French Open title in late May and early June, although would make him a doubt for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells at the start of March. An update from Nadal's team said he would return to Spain for a period of rest and treatment, with the normal recovery time for the injury from six to eight weeks.

The Spaniard was a set and break down during his second-round defeat to Mackenzie McDonald at the 2023 Australian Open when he crouched down in pain ...

The setback is a huge blow for Nadal, who already trying to make a comeback from an abdominal injury that affected him in the second half of 2022. In his post-match press conference he confirmed the pain was in his hip, but he was unsure of the extent of the injury. The MRI shows a grade 2 lesion in the Iliacus Psoas of his left leg.

Rafael Nadal is set to miss up to eight weeks after suffering a grade two iliopsoas tear during his shock exit at the 2023 Australian Open.

I tried till the end. "It's not only the recovery. "I can't say I'm not destroyed mentally because I would be lying. 2 to No. "I lost the match, that's it... Australian Open