Rafael Nadal out of Australian Open, hampered by injury and beaten in three sets

Rafael Nadal suffered his earliest exit from the Australian Open since 2016 losing in the second round to Mackenzie McDonald 4-6 4-6 5-7 after an injury left him unable to play.

To be fair, McDonald was on top of Nadal early in this match, way before any injury. The American played some spectacular tennis to start the match taking an early 4-1 lead. He played precise shots all across the court moving Nadal from one side to another. It worked well as he won the opening set 6-4.

The second set was quite similar as he was up a break when Nadal got injured. The Spaniard started grimacing in pain and his movement became slowed and slower. It was clear he was in pain and he received a medical timeout off the court. Instead of retiring Nadal opted to play on but it was clear pretty soon that he won't be able to win the match.

He did shorten the points by design in the final set and played a great one considering the circumstances but towards the end, he could barely move. A sad ending for Nadal but quite similar to Wimbledon and the US Open last year. He will drop on the rankings but probably stay in the top 10. He is 1-3 on the season and lost 7 of the last 9 matches he played.