Australian Open 2023: Rafael Nadal suffered a shock second round exit from the Australian Open 2023. The defending champion looked a pale shadow of his former self in his loss against World No.65 Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 on Wednesday, 18th January 2023. After the game, Nadal waved to the capacity crowd at the Rod Laver Arena as he received a standing ovation. He has left the Melbourne Park with a big question lingering on whether he has already played his career’s final match at the Australian Open. Follow Australian Open 2023 LIVE updates on InsideSport.IN
Rafael Nadal Retirement: Has Rafael Nadal played his last Australian Open Match? WATCH Crowd gives STANDING OVATION to Champion after 2nd ROUND EXIT – Check out
Always a pleasure, @RafaelNadal 🫶#AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/CdnOMzYDK0
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2023
Nadal, now 36 is at a stage where every match of his is speculated to be the final match of his career. The Spaniard has not been at his best ever since the abdominal injury he sustained at the Wimbledon last year.
Even on Wednesday in the Australian Open, Nadal had injury concerns. His match against Mackenzie McDonald had to be stopped for a few minutes. He e was seen holding his hip and took a medical timeout. The top seed was trailing 3-5 in the second set at that time, after losing the first set 4-6.
During the medical timeout, Nadal’s camp appeared sombre. Espeially, his wife, Mery Perello, was even seen in tears. However Nadal came back and fought well. He held on to his first five service game before going down 5-7 in the third set.
After the loss, there is inevitably questions on how much more his 36-year old body will wish to take. He is also suffering from a chronic foot injury. The 22-time Grand Slam champion revealed during the French Open last year that he has to received injections to numb the pain in his foot before every match.
The man himself has admitted that he’s not 100 per cent sure that he will back on a tennis court following his latest injury setback. Speaking at the post match conference, he said, “Yeah, it’s hard for me, you know. But let’s see. I mean, hopefully is nothing too bad. In the end have been three positive weeks in terms of practice.”
“So I really hope that that don’t put me out of the court for a long time. Because then it’s tough to make all the recovery again. Is not only the recovery. It’s all the amount of work that you need to put together to come back at a decent level.
The next challenge for Nadal will be to defend his crown at the French Open. Nadal has expressed that he is ready to fight and get back. “So I went through this process too many times in my career, and I am ready to keep doing, I think, but that’s not easy, without a doubt,” he added. It remains to be seen whether Nadal can return ahead of the Grand Slam event which will be held in June.
Rafael Nadal Retirement: Has Rafael Nadal played his last Australian Open Match? WATCH Crowd gives STANDING OVATION to Champion after 2nd ROUND EXIT – Check out
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