Bad day for Rafael Nadal: he falls in Brisbane after missing three match points and finds himself in physical discomfort

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal had to withdraw after a good start at the ATP 250 in Brisbane. The now 672nd in the ATP rankings lost to Australian Jordan Thompson (55th) with partials of 5-7, 7-6(6) and 6-3 after three hours and 24 minutes of an intense duel. .

In the first set, it was the Australian who dealt the blow in the seventh game by taking over the European’s serve. However, Nadal was able to recover immediately in the Games then to restore the score to 4-4.

Manacorí’s blow came in the 12th game, when he made another break with which he ended up winning the set 7-5. .

In the second race it could have been the last, but the ocean racer held on despite all the attacks. In the ninth game, Nadal had the opportunity to close the set and the match, but Thompson managed to save it. and keep fighting for teai.e. take a break.

In this case Nadal had two more chances to advance to the semi-finals, but two mini-breaks ended up giving the Australian the advantage. .

All this wear and tear ended up taking its toll on the former number 1 on the planet. Thus, in the third set, a break in the fourth game was enough for Thompson to continue the title race, closing the sleeve 6-3 .

In a post-match press conference, Rafael Nadal gave his impressions of the fall. “Well, I’m tired,” he told the media.

“Today the opponent played well. He made me play one more ball. “I didn’t play badly, but I missed a point,” he analyzed. He then added that “I’m sad right now because I had a lot of chances, but I think he played a good game. And, without it being my best match, I had many opportunities to win “, he appreciated.

“Is that okay? I have to accept this kind of thing. After a year, it’s normal for these things to happen. “As I always say, every day is a different story and things are difficult after so many time,” he added.

He then spoke about the time he had to seek medical assistance to treat the damaged area after the injury suffered last season which knocked them out of the competition when the score was 1-4 against them in the final set .

“I have to see how I get up tomorrow morning “, he indicated. “It’s the beginning, I haven’t played a tournament in a long time.”

“Like I said, the last month has been pretty good in terms of intensity, but it’s been a long time. I don’t know, I hope it’s nothing major and I hope I have the opportunity to continue training next week and play in Melbourne. Honestly, I’m not 100% sure of anything yet. “, he admitted.

In any case, he preferred to ignore this question. “This is not the day to talk about this sort of thing. It is a day to be happy and congratulate your rival. In the next few days we will see how I feel. If I don’t feel well, let’s take a test and check it “.

“The important thing is that I had the opportunity to play three matches. The opponent played well. I give him all the credit, because he fought very hard. For my part, I’m happy with how the week went. If it’s nothing major, it’s a very positive week. If it’s something worse than we want, then it’s not so positive », concluded Rafael Nadal.