efending champion and No1 seed Rafael Nadal crashed out of the Australian Open in a shock loss to American McKenzie McDonald in a match beset by injury to the Spaniard.
Nadal appeared to be struggling with an injury to his left hip, which saw him first lean against the advertising boards in pain during the second set and then required a medical timeout moments later.
His wife Xisca was seen crying in the stands as the 36-year-old struggled to find anyway back from his physical issues in a 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 loss.
Nadal had reached the quarter-final stage at least in all of his last six appearances at Melbourne Park.
And most notably he recovered from a potentially career-ending foot injury to pull off a surprise title win at the tournament 12 months earlier.
This latest issue following after a previous abdominal injury had brought a premature end to his 2022 season will raise further questions about the long-term future of the 22-time Grand Slam champion.
Following his shock win, world No65 McDonald said: “He’s an incredible champion. He’s never going to give up so closing it out against a guy like that is tough. I’m happy I kept focused on myself and got through.”
