They confirmed the seriousness of Rafael Nadal's injury: he will be out between six and eight weeks

Rafael Nadal announced this Thursday that he will have to remain

due to an injury to the iliopsoas muscle in his left hip, suffered the previous day during the match that marked his elimination from the Australian Open, against the American Mackenzie McDonald.

“I have carried out medical tests after the defeat yesterday.

The MRI shows

in the iliopsoas of his left leg.

Now it's sports rest and anti-inflammatory physiotherapy.

Normal recovery time 6 to 8 weeks," the Spanish tennis player wrote on his Twitter account.

The 36-year-old player from Manacor, who defended the title obtained in 2022 at Melbourne Park, where he was the top seed, underwent the pertinent studies this Thursday at a Melbourne hospital, under the supervision of Dr. Ángel Ruiz-Cotorro from the Clínica Teknon, before embarking on the road back to his country.

He had suffered the same injury in the quarterfinals of the Australian tournament in 2018, in a match against Marin Cilic.

Rafael Nadal receives medical assistance during the match against Mackenzie McDonald.

Manan Vatsyayana/AFP.

In this way, Nadal will be absent from the ATP 250 tournaments in Doha and ATP 500 in Dubai, and it is believed that he would not arrive in optimal conditions at the exhibition he had agreed with his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz at the beginning of March in Las Vegas, nor to the Indian Wells Masters 1000.

Strong statements after the injury

"The day my career ends I won't know what to do, I won't be a happy guy," Rafael Nadal once said.

And the end of the tunnel seems to be getting closer little by little.

"I am mentally destroyed," declared the Spaniard in his early defeat.

"The glass is filling up," warned Rafa.

Rafael Nadal spared no adjectives

to describe his feelings after his injury at the Australian Open, the umpteenth physical setback for the Spanish champion who seems to be reaching his limit.

He used qualifiers such as "Tired", "sad", "disappointed", "destroyed ...".

At 36 years old and with his first newborn child, the Spaniard

after being knocked out in the second round of the Australian Open, victim of the American Mackenzie McDonald and his punished body.

"It hurts as always, but in the end the glass fills up," he later explained at a press conference.

And he added: "In the last three Grand Slams I have not been able to finish any of them in good condition: two abdominal tears, here I do not know what is happening in the hip...".

The 22-time Grand Slam champion concluded: "We can come here, put on a brave face - which I do - and accept things - which I also do - but you don't have to fool yourself and make an optimistic speech when you are not today".

The defeat against the American player ranked number 65 in the ATP ranking, with partial scores of 6-4, 6-4 and 7-5, meant for the tennis player from Manacor the earliest elimination from one of the four most important tournaments in the world. Circuit from Australia 2016.

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