The Spanish tennis player collapsed in the quarterfinals of the ATP500 in Australia and everyone was worried when he sought help for discomfort in his hip.
Rafael Nadal lost this Friday against Australian Jordan Thompson 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Brisbane tournament, where he experienced his first loss since his return to competition this Sunday. The former world number one squandered three match points to advance to the semifinals in a match that lasted nearly three and a half hours in which he met stiff resistance from Thompsonvery aggressive in his game.
Nadal has been inactive for a year due to two hip surgeries and is in position 672 in the ATP ranking, so he had a good tournament considering the break in his preparation for the Australian Open, which will be played from the 15th in Melbourne.
The match was very technically and physically demanding and the Mallorcan won the first set in 71 minutes of play. In the second, Nadal had everything to win as the tie break added three match points and he failed to settle it, allowing Thompson to reach 7-6 (8-6) in 84 minutes. In the third and final segment, the Spaniard paid dearly for physical fatigue and lack of competition, leaving the Australian to win almost midnight in his country, after 49 minutes.
The other semifinal will be played by Danish Holger Rune (8), the top favorite, who beat local James Duckworth (116) 6-2 and 7-6 (8-6), and Russian Roman Safiullin (39) , which he defeated the Italian Matteo Arnaldi (44) 7-6 (7-4) and 6-2).
Photo: Chris Hyde/Getty Images
Source: Tycsports
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