Rafael Nadal returned to the Australian Open this year in the midst of one of the leanest periods of form in his career, charged with racing against the clock to find confidence and feel against rivals determined to seize a rare opportunity against a vulnerable champion.
Despite his best efforts to meet the challenge, as he so often has throughout his career, Nadal’s tournament came to a bitter end on Wednesday afternoon as struggled with his game before succumbing to his body. After battling a hip injury while trailing in the second set, the defending champion and top seed was defeated 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 by unseeded American Mackenzie McDonald in the second round.
“Can’t say that I am not destroyed mentally at this time, because I will be lying. It’s hard for me,” said Nadal.
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Nadal had arrived in Melbourne having lost six of his previous seven matches going back to his loss to Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round of the US Open and this new defeat marks the 36-year-old’s third loss out of four matches in 2023. It is also Nadal’s fourth loss to an American player over the past four months after also losing to Tiafoe, Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz in recent tournaments.
“I’m very happy with how I competed in the first couple of sets and executed the gameplan,” said McDonald. “I feel like I’m working really well with my coach and he gave me a good gameplan, and I stuck to it and stuck with my guns and didn’t kind of go in any fear or anything, and I had a good belief there. So I’m happy with how I executed for sure.”
During his scrappy four-set first round win over Jack Draper, Nadal was far from his best, with his game still caked with unforced errors even as Draper began to suffer from cramp. But Nadal had hoped that the mere act of winning was a sufficient step forward.
Instead, he returned to Rod Laver Arena even flatter than before. While Nadal opened with a dire, error-strewn service game and struggled early on, McDonald, the world No 65, was excellent from the beginning. He burst into the match serving extremely well, soaking up pressure with his movement and constantly looking to attack with slick, early ball-striking. The 27-year-old put much of his attention on attacking the Nadal forehand, and he continually broke down what is normally one of the most feared strokes in the game.
As against Draper, Nadal struggled badly to hit through the court and consistently pierce McDonald’s strong defence. The American, whose earlier, flatter strike, was far more effective in the conditions, broke serve to open the second set. But even as he trailed, Nadal was still in the fight and working to find a solution to McDonald’s high level.
But as Nadal trailed by a set and a break at 3-4, he lunged at a defensive forehand and pulled up clutching his hip. From that point onwards, Nadal could no longer run or fluidly strike his backhand and he watched as serves flew past him. After McDonald held serve to lead 5-3, Nadal took an off-court medical timeout as the Rod Laver Arena crowd fell silent.
Even as he stared down the prospect of defeat – his wife, Mery, was in tears in the crowd – Nadal demonstrated his mental fortitude as he played on until the end. It was clear that he had no realistic chance of winning three consecutive sets in his condition yet Nadal kept hold of his serve deep into the third set until McDonald finally closed off a brave, excellent performance with the biggest win of his career.
“I didn’t want to retire, to be defending champion here. I didn’t want to leave the court with a retirement. Better like this at the end. I lost, nothing to say,” said Nadal.
Despite his incredible achievements in 2022, with Nadal following his shock Australian Open title by winning his 22nd grand slam title at the French Open, the men’s all-time record, he continues to suffer from a constant stream of injuries.
Just as he resolved his career-threatening foot injury with a procedure after the French Open, he sustained an abdominal injury at Wimbledon that upended the rest of his season. Having arrived at the Australian Open with hopes of rebuilding his form, he now has to recover from a new injury. Although Nadal asserted that he remains extremely motivated to continue working towards regaining his top form, it certainly isn’t easy.
“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,” said Nadal, “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.”
Elsewhere, Felix Auger-Aliassime, the sixth seed, recovered from two sets down to reach the third round with a 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over Alex Molcan of Slovakia.
