Rafael Nadal suffered a grade 2 iliopsoas injury in the second round of the Australian Open. Nadal injured his left leg in the closing stages of the second set against Mackenzie McDonald in a 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 loss. After the initial controls in Melbourne, Rafa underwent more this Thursday in Barcelona and confirmed the results.
The Spaniard will follow the treatment and will examine the evolution in three weeks. Nadal will stay off the court for six to eight weeks, miss Doha and Dubai and hope to compete again in Indian Wells in March. A winner of 22 Majors he has played just 13 matches after last year’s Wimbledon, picking up five wins and eight losses!
With the latest injury, Nadal is very likely to drop out of the top 10 for the first time since April 2005, after defending 1100 points in Acapulco and Indian Wells! Rafa arrived in Melbourne in absolutely no shape, struggling with one injury for months and experiencing another at Rod Laver Arena against McDonald.
Rafael Nadal will continue the treatment and will go for more controls in three weeks.
The American defeated him in straight sets and delivered Nadal’s worst Major result since 2016. Rafa was far from his best game even before the injury.
McDonald played well and stayed focused against an injured opponent to advance to the third round. The American produced five breaks in eight chances and lost serve just twice. The lower ranked player got off to a great start and broke the defending champion in the first games one and five 4-1 in less than 20 minutes.
Nadal cut the deficit with a break in game six, and McDonald fought back from a break point at 5-4 to bring the set home and build momentum. The second set saw back-to-back breaks in the opening stage, with Rafa wasting a game point at 3-3 and getting broken.
The American hit an ace in the eighth game to confirm the lead, and the Spaniard called a medical timeout on his left hip. Rafa came off the court for treatment and held on in game nine to extend the set despite an apparent struggle.
McDonald brought the set home after Nadal’s forehand error at 5-4 to move closer to the finish line. Rafa continued and gave his best in the third set despite having trouble moving or hitting a backhand. He fired an ace on break point at 4-4 and held to stay in contention.
Mackenzie leveled the score at 5-5 and placed a backhand down the line winner in the next to take a deciding break. The American hit a service winner in game 12 to seal the deal and dethrone the Spaniard. “Today I have been at the Tecknon Tennis Clinic in Barcelona, where they have done some tests.
The Melbourne results are confirmed and the deadlines remain the same. They established the treatments that I have to follow, and they are going to do new tests in three weeks to see the progress,Rafael Nadal said.
