Injured champion Rafael Nadal bows out of Australian Open
Rafael Nadal was defeated in the second round by American Mackenzie McDonald at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal pulled out of the second round of the Australian Open on Wednesday after suffering an injury during a 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 loss.
The duration of the match was 2 hours 32 minutes. On account of McDonald, as a result of the meeting, 14 innings right through, three errors on his serve and five breaks out of 8 break points.
Nadal managed to complete six aces, made two double faults, and also managed to convert two break points out of four possible.
What happened?
Nadal injured his left hip while chasing a backhand in the second set, and after being examined by a coach while trailing 6-4 5-3, he went off the court for a medical time-out.
Before Nadal broke, the mighty McDonald played superbly to take the first set, taking on the 36-year-old and winning most of the exchanges on the starting line.
“He’s an incredible champion, he’s never going to give up regardless of the situation so even closing it out against a top guy like that is always tough,”
said McDonald.
Rafael Nadal is known to have won the Australian Open in 2022. In the decisive match of the tournament, he beat the Russian Daniil Medvedev in five games.
In the third round, McDonald will face the winner of the pair Dalibor Svrcina (Czech Republic) – Yoshito Nishioka (Japan).
