Rafael Nadal Withdraws From The Australian Open Defeat By Mackenzie McDonald | Australian Open 2023

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Rafael Nadal returned to the Australian Open this year in the midst of one of the most difficult fitness periods of his career, as he was accused of racing against time to find confidence and feeling against a group of opponents determined to seize a rare chance against a weak champion. .

Despite his best effort to rise to the challenge, as he has so often throughout his career, Nadal’s tournament ended Wednesday afternoon as he struggled terribly with his form before his body gave in. After sustaining an injury while trailing in the second set, the defending champion and top seed was defeated 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 by unseeded American Mackenzie McDonald in the second round.

Nadal arrived in Melbourne having lost six of his previous seven matches since losing to Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round of the US Open, and this new defeat marks the 36-year-old’s third loss out of four matches in 2023. It is also Nadal’s loss. The fourth against an American player during the past four months, after losing also to Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz in recent tournaments.

During his thrilling four-set first-round victory over Jack Draper, Nadal was far from his best, his game still riddled with unforced errors even as Draper began to cramp up. But Nadal hoped that just winning would be enough of a step forward.

Instead, he returned to Rod Laver Arena in a flatter shape than before. When Nadal opened a horrible serve game full of errors and struggled early on, McDonald burst into the game doing very well, absorbing pressure with his movement and was constantly looking to attack with his early, graceful strike, McDonald put a lot of his attention into attacking Nadal’s forehands, and continued to break what It is usually one of the most feared strikes in the game.

Towards the end of the first set, Nadal seemed to have found more tempo and secured a break point on McDonald’s serve at 4-5 with a heavy forehand winning cross shot. But on the next point, he stopped his comeback with a simple first blow. MacDonald calmly recovered to close the door.

Facing Draper, Nadal struggled mightily to take the court and break through the ever-strong McDonald’s defense from the baseline. The American, who found more pleasure with his previous flatter shot, broke serve to open the second set.

While Nadal trailed a set and broke at 3-4, he lunged in with a defensive forehand and pulled in his stomach area. From that point on, Nadal could no longer chase balls and saw many serves go past him. After McDonald held serve to lead 5-3, Nadal took a medical time out as the Rod Laver Arena fans fell silent.

Even as he stared at the prospect of defeat – his wife Marie was weeping in the crowd – Nadal showed his mental fortitude as he tried to play to the end. A struggling Nadal almost clearly had a chance to win in three straight sets, but held serve deep in the third before McDonald finally broke and closed out the match, ending Nadal’s miserable day while notching the biggest win of his career. .

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