Yes, Rafael Nadal thought about giving up "permanently" as his hip was hurting him.
On Wednesday, he suffered martyrdom against the American Mackenzie McDonald (65th), who beat him in three sets (6-4, 6-4, 7-5) in the second round of the Australian Open.
"I tried to continue playing without accentuating the injury," he said at a press conference.
I couldn't hit backhand at all, I couldn't run.
But I wanted to finish the game, that's all.
I'm old enough to make my own decisions: as defending champion, I didn't want to give up, I didn't want to leave the court on a retirement.
And it's better like this.
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The record holder for Grand Slam victories (22) said he had been in pain for several days "but not to this extent".
“At the moment, I don't know if it's the muscle, the joint, the cartilage... I've had hip problems before.
I already had to do treatments.
But it has never been stronger.
This time I can't move"
“I hope to avoid another long period away”
The Spanish champion then admitted to being totally devastated by this injury and by the prospect of a possible absence, one more.
“I have to admit that I am mentally destroyed.
I hope it's not too serious.
The last three weeks have been quite positive, so hopefully this injury won't take me away from the courts for too long because then it will be difficult to go through the whole recovery process again.
I've been there too many times in my career...I think I can still do it, but it's not easy.
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“I hope to avoid another long period out, otherwise it will be super difficult to find the rhythm, become competitive again and get back to fighting for my goals.
Let's see what the injury is all about and how I'll be able to keep up with the (tournament) schedule."
