Rafael Nadal’s Aus Open conqueror uncovers weapon behind surprise win

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Mackenzie McDonald has admitted he had something of a secret weapon in his armour as he upset defending champion Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-4 7-5 in the second round of the Australian Open. The world No 65 was a set-and-a-break up on the top seed before Nadal got injured and continued his momentum despite a pause when the Spaniard needed a medical time-out to seal the biggest win of his career.

Nadal was defeated in the second round of the Australian Open on Wednesday, suffering his earliest exit at a Grand Slam in seven years. The world No 2 had been overpowered by McDonald before getting injured towards the end of the second set and receiving an off-court medical time-out, continuing the match and falling in straight sets.

While talk surrounding the match became dominated by the Spaniard’s injury, the 27-year-old had been proving himself against Nadal before his physical issue and continued to keep his level high for the rest of the match. And McDonald has now revealed that compatriot Tommy Paul acted as something of a secret weapon, giving him advice on how to beat Nadal after winning their Paris Masters clash in November.

“I thought about Taylor taking him out, yeah and Foe,” the world No 64 said, referencing Taylor Fritz’s win over Nadal in Indian Wells and Frances Tiafoe’s US Open victory. “I talked to Tommy about it too last night. That definitely gave me some more confidence.”

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McDonald refused to give away exactly what the world No 35 told him but admitted that his coach had already come up with a similar plan, adding: “He gave me a little bit of a game plan. It wasn’t far off from what Robby told me, too. Then, I mean, he is one of my best friends, and he told me, Dude, you can do it. You just have to believe it. Yeah.”

The American also addressed Nadal’s injury, admitting it was still tough to play him even when he was hampered, while he was also upset to see the world No 2 struggle with a fresh injury. “I feel like when he was kind of hurt there in the third, it made me think a little bit more about the match and stuff and about myself and the game, which I was executing and playing so well in the first couple of sets. So I hate that for him. I hope he feels better,” McDonald explained.

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And the world No 65 said he wasn’t surprised Nadal didn’t retire despite members of his team urging him to quit the match, adding: “I mean, even with him, it’s never over until it’s over type thing. He didn’t even want to roll over and quit. He kept fighting until basically the end, even though he maybe didn’t have all his game.”

But McDonald knew that his last break of the Nadal serve to go 6-5 up and close out the match was too much for the Spaniard to come back from in the end. “I would say once I broke him maybe in that third set at the end there, it felt like he hadn’t really seen any chances on my serve in that set, so I think I could have gone away with it there,” he said.

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