Injury ends Rafael Nadal’s title bid in another disappointing Australian Open

The surprises keep coming out of Australia. Top-seeded Rafael Nadal is the latest to end his quest for another slam title Down Under.

Rafael Nadal has an amazing 16 grand slams, but only one Australian. This year, he was bidding to become the first man in the Open era to win each grand slam at least twice. And up until the disappointing last two sets in the Cilic match, it looked like we had another memorable Nadal-Federer final in store. But after losing the first two games of the final set, the tennis legend limped over to the chair umpire and announced that he couldn’t go on, abandoning his quest for the elusive second AO title and retiring in the fifth set, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, 2-0.

But the “La Decima” clay master retains his top ranking, guaranteed after his fourth round win a few days ago. With Roger Federer having to defend many of the titles he won at the beginning of last year, it is also likely that Rafa will retain his No. 1 ranking for a few months. That may be a consolation if his doctors recommend that he take some time off — possibly opting to get back in the fray for clay season, where he feels the most comfortable.

Let’s face it, the Australian Open is a tough hurdle for Nadal. He’s played four hard-fought finals here: there was the first he won against Federer 2009 left the Swiss in tears, a taxing five setter loss to Djokovic in 2012, an injury-plagued final two years later that gave Stan Wawrinka the first of his three slams, and last year’s epic match that saw Federer rally from five games behind.

The 16-time slam champ was already coming into the tournament on the back of a knee injury, but with four match wins, he played his customary high quality throughout. Perhaps it was the tense, almost four hour match against Diego Schwartzman on Sunday that tired him out. Or maybe it was the late start to the season, with the 10-time French Open champion needing more recovery time by skipping warm-up events in Brisbane and Sydney. Or possibly it was that he needed to take even more time off between ATP Finals and the beginning season: last year he had three months of recuperation time before he traveled to Melbourne and made the ratings-high final with his Swiss rival.

It just doesn’t seem like Nadal gets a break Down Under.

“It’s really tough to accept,” Nadal said afterward.

“Another thing is that there is too many injuries on the tour,” he continued. “I am not the one to say, but somebody have to look about what’s going on.”

Known for his positive spirit on and off the courts, it’s a rare thing to see the world No. 1 so irritated, but clearly the disappointment stings.

Although it seems like he and Federer can keep winning grand slams forever, that’s just not possible. At age 31, Nadal’s already had his share of injuries and plays a much more physically taxing, punishing game than Federer. Nadal’s knees have always been vulnerable and forced him to take time off from the game in 2007, 2008 and 2009 as well as the short beginning of this year, really. But he’s also suffered foot injuries, hamstring, and wrist ailments several times, most recently in 2016, forcing him to take the time off before coming back so spectacularly last year. This time he will be recovering from a thigh injury and will have to decide if he will sit out after it gets scanned on Wednesday.

“It’s high on the leg,” explained Nadal. “Tomorrow we are going to communicate what’s going on after the MRI… It’s better to wait just a few hours. Give me that time, and tomorrow afternoon we’ll let you know.”

It’s a shame that the match ended the way that it did. Until the fourth set, it was an enthralling display of aggression and deft shot making.

“It was an unbelievable performance from both of us and it’s really unfortunate for Rafa,” said Cilic afterward. “He always gives his best and it’s unfortunate for him to end this way.”

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As the great players become older, they will look to take more breaks in between tournaments as they focus on grand slams and big opportunities. It is simply impossible to imagine that the 30-somethings can participate in so many events. While they still have the killer instinct to win the ones they do, their bodies now can only take so much.

Moreover, the Australian Open has a punishing schedule, coming so soon after the ATP Finals. Roger Federer is now the only AO finalist left in the draw.