This year, Rafael Nadal returned to the Australian Open in the midst of one of the weakest runs of his career. He was running against time to regain his confidence and battle his opponents trying to take advantage of a rare opportunity against a vulnerable champion, Mackenzie McDonald.
However, luck was not in the champion’s favor as Nadal’s tournament came to an unfortunate end on Wednesday afternoon when he suffered a hip injury while training.
Soon after the match the player was quite disheartened and says, “Can’t say that I am not destroyed mentally at this time, because I will be lying. It’s hard for me.”
Since losing to Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round of the US Open, Nadal had dropped six of his previous seven matches. With this latest defeat, the 36-year-old has now lost three of his last four matches overall in 2023. After losing in previous tournaments against Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, and Taylor Fritz, it is also Nadal’s fourth defeat to an American player in the last four months.
However, the champion ends his note by saying, “At the end, you need to keep going, no? Sometimes it’s frustrating. Sometimes it’s difficult to accept. Sometimes you feel super tired about all this stuff in terms of injuries. Can’t come here or can’t come here and say, lying, that the life is fantastic and staying positive and keep fighting. Not now. Tomorrow starts another day. Now it’s a tough moment. It’s a tough day, and you need to accept that, and keep going.”
