It was the middle of the second set when Rafael Nadal realized that even in the 2023 Australian Championship he would probably have to lose a match to his body.
Trailing 3:4 to the American McKenzie McDoland, the Spaniard tried to reach the ball and felt how the pain prevented him from doing so.
He folded, rested his hands on the billboards and tried to shake the injury off him.
He turned his gaze towards his wife in the stands, and she could not hide her excitement from what was happening on the field.
Nadal continued to play and received huge applause from the crowd for it, but did not really succeed.
He lost the second set 4:6, the third 5:7 and finished the tournament already in the second round.
Very early on the men's tournament lost last year's champion.
AFP, photo: Nadal.
Surrender to his body
Nadal and injuries is not a new matter, but this injury has a wider perspective than its predecessors.
"The pain is the same pain as always" admitted the Spaniard and added an interesting metaphor that explains his point of view;
"But in the end the glass will be full and the water will spill out."
Nadal basically says that he is aware of the situation, that in June he will celebrate 37, that the year is 2023, and that even Roger Federer is no longer here.
The wheel of life turns and you can't escape it.
The tournament in Melbourne is now the third in a row that the "Bull from Majorca" finishes bruised and sore.
At Wimbledon last year he retired from the semi-finals due to pain in his abdominal muscles, at the US Championship he needed treatment in his loss to Francis Tiafou in the fourth round and last night he again suffered all the way to losing against the favorite McKenzie.
"I can sit here in front of you and say that I accept the situation as it is, and that's what I'm doing," said the winner of 22 Grand Slam titles at the press conference.
Alongside this he added;
"But I also mustn't deceive myself and present an optimistic picture about the future because that's really not the case."
Nadal admits: "The situation is not good", photo: AFP
The situation is that Nadal needs to stop the process, recover, and start from the beginning.
There are no thoughts of retirement yet, there are definitely thoughts of frustration.
"Right now I'm crushed mentally" he admitted to the journalists.
For several months now, the 35-year-old Spaniard has been working for one goal: to return to being competitive and, above all, pain-free.
He got into the rhythm, played where possible, lost a lot and yesterday in the second round he found out that it was too early and too difficult.
Even before the injury, it was already evident that Nadal was not at his peak.
MacDonald, ranked 65th in the world, opened corners and ran the Spaniard into corners that were difficult for him to reach.
When the hip injury came into play, the movement was further restricted and the back of the hand hit became a nightmare as well.
As usual, he did not quit.
As usual, he congratulated the winner at the end.
"He played well and I didn't, he deserves it."
Even though he finished the tournament frustrated, hurt and disintegrated, and even if he lost a lot of rating points due to the elimination, Nadal does not give up.
"I want to continue playing tennis and not stop now" he declared while the blood was still hot.
Many questions are raised by his urge to continue despite everything and even though he has already achieved everything, but when he explains everything becomes much more understandable;
"Very simple: I like it" he said last night;
"I like to fight for the things I've fought for half my life. I like to play tennis, and I know I won't be able to do it forever."
Nadel at the end of the match.
remained speechless, Photo: AP
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