By Victor Kanayo
One year after winning the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal is out of the ongoing 2023 Tennis competition after losing to American opponent Mackenzie McDonald in the second round clash due to injury.
Nadal, a Spaniard was trailing 6-4 5-3 when he pulled up with his injury.
He has now failed to defend the crown he won in January 2022, after losing in straight sets.
Desirous of carrying on in the Championship, Nadal immediately called on the trainer at the end of McDonald’s service game before leaving the court for a medical timeout.
After Nadal returned to the court and played out the second set, the 36-year-old continued and fought on valiantly, but ultimately was not fit enough to force a fourth set as McDonald won it 6-4 6-4 7-5.
Watching from the stands, his wife, Xisca, broke down in tears in the stands as the defending champions struggled en route to crashing out of the Australian Open.
As he left the court, his wife was seen wiping tears from her eyes as the rest of his box left shattered by the injury as the 22-time major winner seemingly approaches the end of his glittering career.
Nadal last year won a second Australian Open title, 13 years after his first, by coming from two sets down to defeat Russian Daniil Medvedev in a classic decider.
The apparent hip problem marks the sixth time in his grand career that either injury or illness has cruelled his Australian Open campaign.
He retired in the 2010 quarter-finals against Andy Murray with a knee injury and was badly hindered by a hamstring strain the following year in a last-eighth loss to countryman David Ferrer.
In 2013, the Spanish player withdrew from the Open with a stomach virus and suffered a back injury in the warm-up before losing the 2014 final to Stan Wawrinka.
He quit his quarter-final against Marin Cilic with a hip issue in 2018
