Melbourne, Jan. 18 (BNA): Defending champion Rafa Nadal was eliminated from the second round of the Australian Open today, Wednesday, after suffering an injury during his 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 defeat by American Mackenzie McDonald.
Nadal’s exclusion led to a change in the men’s draw and caused a shift in the race for Grand Slam titles, as the nine-time champion Novak Djokovic managed to equalize with the Spaniard in 22 major tournaments if he crowned the tenth title in Melbourne Park, according to Reuters.
Nadal appeared to strain his left groin while running a deep backhand in the second set at Rod Laver Arena and after receiving attention from a coach, took a medical time-out off the court when trailing 6-4, 5-3.
He returned with a grim face for the match but his movement visibly affected, particularly on his backhand, setting the stage for McDonald to finish off the Spaniard’s bid for a third title at Melbourne Park.
Before the injury, McDonald had played brilliantly to take the first set, going toe-to-toe with the 36-year-old Spaniard winning most of the fierce exchanges.
“He’s an amazing champ, he’ll never give up no matter what the situation is, so closing it in front of a big guy like that is always tough,” McDonald said.
“I was trying to stay very focused on what I was doing and he kind of got me out of it with what he was doing. But I just kind of stayed focused on myself and got through it.
“The last time I played him was at Chatrier, he kicked my ass,” said McDonald, who lost only four matches to Nadal in the second round of the 2020 French Open.
“It’s hard to beat on clay but I loved my chance so bad, I really wanted to take it to him on a hard court. I’m really glad I got my chance and got away with it.”
After Nadal timed out, he returned to the court to a standing ovation and got another round of applause as he picked up his serve.
But his grim expression told the story, and he refused to retrieve a shot on the next game, shaking his head at his worried courtiers.
McKenzie took the second set when Nadal slammed a forehand into the net, and the Spaniard threw his racket into his chair when changing ends.
Relying heavily on serve and reliance on touch, Nadal pulled McDonald deep into the third set but finally broke to 6-5 when the American lunged forward to hit a pass in front of him.
Nadal hit the net in a desperate final encounter but there was no repeat of the “Melbourne miracle” when he came back from two sets down in last year’s Classic final to beat Daniil Medvedev.