The hearts of Rafael Nadal’s fans were broken on Wednesday as the defending champion crashed out (also suffered a hip injury) of the ongoing Australian Open in the second round, following a loss in three sets against Mackenzie McDonald.
Rafael Nadal did not have a great second half of the season in 2022. Injuries and inconsistency barred him from performing anywhere near his best. The ghosts of last season have come back to haunt him this season as well.
After suffering losses against Cameron Norrie and Alex de Minaur, Nadal managed to win his first match of the season at the 2023 Australian Open in the first round against Jack Draper. However, the talented Draper suffered an injury during the match and couldn’t play his best game.
The top-seeded Nadal went on to play Mackenzie McDonald in the second round. The latter finished the match in straight sets, securing the biggest win of his career. The legendary Nadal got injured during the encounter. However, he continued playing with the injury after taking a medical timeout. Nadal played some fine shots with restricted movement but it wasn’t enough to get past McDonald.
The second-round exit turned out to be Nadal’s worst result at a Grand Slam in seven years. Not only the loss but yet another injury has come as a huge blow for Nadal and his fans.
Nadal revealed after his loss that he experienced pain in the hip flexor for a couple of days leading into the match against McDonald.
“It has been a couple of days like this but nothing like today in that movement. I don’t know. We’re gonna start talking about that now, but I don’t know what’s going on, if its muscle, if it’s joint.
I have history in the hip that I had issues. I had to do treatments in the past, address a little. Was not this amount of problem. Now I feel I cannot move.
But I don’t know till I do the test and all this stuff, I don’t know. Is difficult to make resolution if it’s a muscle, if it’s the joint, if it’s the cartilage. I don’t know. Yeah, that’s it.”
Rafael Nadal to miss 6-8 weeks of action
The 36-year-old Rafael Nadal underwent an MRI scan on his left leg in Melbourne on Thursday. The scan has revealed that he has a grade 2 injury in the Iliopsoas, which is the primary hip flexor.
He will be resting the next days once back in Spain and will start with anti-inflammatory physiotherapy,” his team said in a statement.
“The normal time estimated for a complete recuperation is between six and eight weeks.”
So if Nadal recovers in 6-8 weeks, he will have enough time to prepare for his French Open title defense. The 2023 French Open begins on May 28. However, he could drop out of the top 10 in the ATP rankings for the first time since 2005.
Nadal will not be too worried about it though. He will want to take enough time to recuperate properly and get back to the court with full fitness. The southpaw has come back from injuries on many occasions in the past. His fans will be hoping for another one of those remarkable comebacks.
Meanwhile, Mackenzie McDonald will square off against 31st seed Yoshihito Nishioka in the third round of the Australian Open on Friday.
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