(Tennis news) Defending Australian Open champion and top seed Rafael Nadal was knocked out of the Grand Slam by unseeded opponent Mackenzie McDonald 6-4 6-4 7-5. The Spaniard was in trouble at a set and a break down and was seen holding his left hip after chasing out wide for a forehand. Nadal then called his trainer and was headed off court for treatment and was seen limping through the rest of the game. The Spaniard has not been knocked out of the second round of the Australian Open since 2001, which was against Gustavo Kuerten.

All indications pointed towards a retirement from the match but Nadal fought on while his wife Maria was seen crying in the stands. The Spaniard managed to hold on to his serve until the 11th game as fans continued to cheer him on, hoping for a comeback from the 22 time Grand Slam winner. However, that was not the case as McDonald looked certain to secure the victory and managed to do so in straight sets despite Nadal putting up a valiant effort, especially in the third set. After the match, Nadal revealed that he had been suffering a hip injury before the match but the problem was aggravated during the game.

“It has been a couple of days like this, but nothing like today in that movement. We’re going to start talking about that now, but I don’t know what’s going on, if it’s muscle, if it’s joint. I have history in the hip. I had to do treatments in the past, address it a little [but there] was not this amount of problem. Now I feel I cannot move. I tried until the end. I don’t know if in good conditions I will win the match, I will have better chances without a doubt. But at the end, that’s it. I just tried. It was not possible.

“In terms of sports and in terms of injuries and tough moments, that’s another one. I just can’t say that I am not destroyed mentally at this time, because I will be lying. Hopefully it’s nothing too bad. In the end it has been three positive weeks in terms of practice. So I really hope that this doesn’t put me out of the court for a long time, because then it’s tough to make all the recovery again. I went through this process too many times in my career and I am ready to keep doing it, I think, but that’s not easy, without a doubt.” – Rafael Nadal said after the match

It was a wet day in Melbourne and the match was played under a closed roof at the Rod Laver Arena with the indoor conditions suiting flat-hitting McDonald. He broke Nadal twice to take a 4-1 lead but the Spaniard fought back in the opening set. Nadal had earlier complained about the balls being used at the Australian Open and committed a number of unforced errors. The 36 year old created one breakpoint with McDonald serving for the set but the American fought back to take the driving seat.

“He’s an incredible champion, he’s never going to give up regardless of the situation so even closing it out against a top guy like that is always tough. I was trying to stay so focused on what I was doing and he kind of got me out of that with what he was doing. But I kind of just kept focusing on myself and got through. Last time I played him was at Chatrier, he kicked my butt. It’s tough to hit through on clay but I liked my chances on hard, I really wanted to take it to him on hard court. I’m really glad I got my chance and got away with it.” – Mackenzie McDonald after the match

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