The Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal was eliminated on Wednesday from the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season and in which he was defending his title, after falling in three sets (6-4, 6-4, 7-5) against the American Mackenzie McDonald and after playing injured since the end of the second set.
The Spaniard, top seed at Melbourne Park, had to seek medical attention in the final stretch of the second set, when he had already lost the first and was down 5-3. He was first treated on court for a problem in his left hip and then even left the court to come back and try to come back from a set down.
The winner of 22 ‘Grand Slams’ managed to continue on the court of a Rod Laver Arena devoted to his figure, but, visibly weakened and despite his resistance, he could not avoid defeat and say goodbye to his journey in the first ‘big one’ of the year.
Anyway, this mishap came when the Manacor was being overcome by McDonald, number 65 in the world ranking and was playing at a high level, dominating almost always and not letting his opponent could take the initiative. Except, curiously, in the third set, Nadal could never command on the scoreboard to try to undermine the confidence of the American, very confident with his serve and his ‘drive’, which did not spare the short balls that left the Spaniard.
The American signed 42 strokes winners, 14 of them with the service, with which he barely offered Nadal cracks, for only 22 unforced errors, many of them with the backhand, where he suffered the most. But it was enough to overcome the Spaniard, who never had good feelings, especially with his best weapon, his ‘drive’, with which he chained more errors than usual.
After the problems to get rid of the British Jack Draper in his debut, the current champion expected to give a better level against the American, but from the beginning he struggled to find his best tennis on a roofed court. He started the match with a break and the first set became very difficult for him with another one in the fifth game. There came a hint of a reaction with a break, but McDonald managed to close the set although the Spaniard had a 30-40 with 5-4 that he could not take advantage.
In the second, things did not start better. Nadal lost his serve for the third time, also in white, and the American did not let up. Still, the top seed was able to not lose focus and recover the disadvantage in the fourth game (2-2). However, in the seventh, the script was to change and definitely against him, with a new ‘break’ and the appearance of physical problems.
The Spanish tennis player could not avoid, despite the break and medical attention, being two sets down, but, true to his character, decided to continue, although the physique was not with him. McDonald did not relax, focused on staying solid on serve and waited patiently for an opportunity to appear in the rest. He wasted the ninth game, but not the optimal 0-40 of the eleventh and broke to end the pain of Manacor, who signed his earliest farewell in Melbourne since in 2016 fell in his debut against Fernando Verdasco.
SOURCE: (EUROPA PRESS)
