Nadal may have played last ever Aus Open as Spaniard backed to retire

Novak Djokovic jokes about his age at the Australian Open

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Express Sport readers are concerned Rafael Nadal may have played in his last ever Australian Open match after his emotional early exit at Melbourne Park. Defending champion Nadal crashed out at the second round stage in a shock defeat to American Mackenzie McDonald. 

And the left hip problem that severely hampered him in the tournament has led to suggestions that the legendary Spaniard is closing in on retirement. Top seed Nadal said he was ‘mentally destroyed’ after his earliest Aussie Open exit since 2016. 

An MRI scan in Melbourne showed that Nadal suffered a grade two iliopsoas tear in his hip flexor that would leave him sidelined for six to eight weeks. And he then travelled to Barcelona for further medical assessment, where it has been confirmed that he will be out of action for around two months.

“Today I have been at the Clínica Tenis Teknon in Barcelona where they have carried out some tests on me,” Nadal wrote on Twitter on Thursday. “The Melbourne results are confirmed and the deadlines remain the same. 

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“We established the treatments to follow and in three weeks they will carry out new tests to see the evolution.”

Battling warhorse Nadal is desperate to prolong his magical career and increase his record tally of 22 Grand Slam titles, which could be matched by Novak Djokovic in Melbourne this weekend. But the frequent injuries that also derailed the end of his 2022 season are now taking their toll on a champion even as mentally and physically strong as the 36-year-old Nadal. 

The results of an Express survey completed by 11,162 tennis fans show that many predict that Nadal has entered the last year of his career. 61.8% of readers believe Nadal has played in his last Aussie Open match, while 51.4% are convinced Nadal will retire at the end of 2023. 

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Nadal could now focus his season on targeting a record-extending 15th French Open title at Roland Garros in June ahead of a possible swansong. And three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker agrees with the majority of Express readers that Nadal’s ‘days are numbered’.

“The question was: Will he play until he’s 40? I don’t think so,” Becker told Eurosport. “An injury like that is hard, and at this age, it takes even longer to get back into shape. 

“I hope and pray that he will get well soon and that we will see him looking fresh again in Paris at the latest, but I think his days are numbered. He is not only a tennis legend, he is a sports legend. He is one of the most important sportsmen of the last 25 years.” 

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