The Spanish tennis player tried to battle his physical issues in the second round of the Grand Slam but ended up falling 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 to American Mackenzie McDonald.
Rafael Nadal says goodbye to the Australian Open in a bad way. The Spanish tennis player was injured after the loss to American Mackenzie McDonald in the second round of the first Grand Slam of the year .
After losing 6-4, 6-4 and 7-5, the Hispanic will not be able to defend the title of the competition and, for giving up after his second game, 1,995 points will be subtracted from him, which will make him drop from second place in the ATP rankings in sixth place.
After the match, Nadal spoke about the illness and his feelings of having to face the forced withdrawal from activity again in an attempt to bring his physique back to a competitive point.
“I noticed something in the hip and it’s over. I had noticed something the previous days but nothing like today . I have a history of hip problems that forced me to undergo treatments in the past,” acknowledged the athlete.
A fact that causes him bad feelings. “I’m tired and frustrated being on the mend from injuries for a lot of my career. But I’ve always accepted it. I can’t say I’m not mentally broken ’cause I would lie “, he confessed.
“I can come here and say life is great and you have to stay positive, but I’m not going to do that now. It’s a tough day and time and I accept it because we have to keep going . At the sporting level, the glass fills up and there may be a time when it overflows”, he added, evaluating a possible abandonment.
Now Nadal has to undergo the corresponding studies to assess the injury, hoping for a positive diagnosis overall. “It’s hard to say exactly what I have until I’ve had an MRI. I don’t know if the problem is in the muscle, if it’s in the cartilage… I hope it’s nothing excessively bad that will keep me away for a long time. It’s not just the rollback, but the time that passes until you get a decent level ”.
At the same time, he said he chose to keep fighting his rival and the injury instead of stepping down amid the dispute. “I didn’t ask the physio if I should retire because I know my body. I’m old enough to make my own decisions. I didn’t want to retire and leave the track because I was the defending champion here. What I did was try to carry on without hurting myself more . I couldn’t run and I couldn’t hit the backhand either.”
Finally, he assessed the duel against McDonald’s. “It was difficult at first and then in the second set I felt closer and understood better the things I had to do. But now you can’t say what if, what if, “is that I don’t like to use that either in sport or in life. I’m out of the tournament and McDonald’s is in the third round. I congratulate you,” he concluded.
With this result, the North American should prepare to face the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka in the round of 16, who has just beaten the Czech Dalibor Svrcina 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Track to El Deportivo
Source: Latercera
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
