Defending champion and holder of the most Grand Slam titles for men (22), Rafael Nadal was eliminated in the second round of the Australian Open, where his last great rival since the retirement of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic , now has free rein to win a tenth title in Melbourne and equal his total in Majors. Rafael Nadal was beaten by American Mackenzie McDonald in three sets, 6-4 6-4 7-5.
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The end of the game was cut short by Nadal’s groin injury as McDonald served at 5-4 in the second set. In the third set, the Spaniard, who was visibly having difficulty making long runs, tried to shorten the exchanges. He managed to hold his serve until 5-5, saving a break point at 4-4, but finally gave in to the inevitable.
As Wawrinka in
Mackenzie McDonald did not celebrate what is clearly the greatest achievement of her career. The merit of the American (27 years old, 65th in the world) is however double. In the first two sets, he played the shot perfectly well, serving perfectly and using flat shots that deprived Nadal of time to react. It is perhaps because he was thus “moved” by his opponent that the Mallorcan’s body ended up cracking.
Faced with such a situation, many of Nadal’s opponents failed to conclude, suddenly losing their confidence in a game that had become illogical. We thus remember that in the final of the 2014 Australian Open, Stan Wawrinka, in much the same circumstances, had lost the third round and feared a return from Nadal before regaining his composure and winning his first title of the Grand Slam.
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Mackenzie McDonald was able to adapt without doing anything, staying calm and playing relatively safe but off-center shots to make her opponent run. Rafael Nadal was unable to do so but was keen not to give up a tenth time in his career. At 36, the question now is whether he will ever return to Melbourne.
