"Despair" as Nadal breaks down
The big names keep on falling at the Australian Open, with Rafael Nadal the latest top contender to join the exit queue after a dramatic day of tennis at Melbourne Park.
Nadal was expected to buck the trend of superstars exiting the tournament early, but after a marathon match against Marin Cilic which lasted three hours and 48 minutes, the tournament’s No. 1 seed was force to retire hurt.
Sadly leaving the #ausopen tonight. I’ll get an MRI tomorrow morning to see what is the injury. Thanks for the support to all my fans pic.twitter.com/KwTf56G7aG
— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) January 23, 2018
While still unclear as to the extent of his injury, the multiple grand slam winner hit out at tennis officials over the disturbing trend of players carrying long-term injuries.
“Somebody who is running the tour should think a little bit about what’s going on,” Nadal said.
“Too many people are getting injured.
“I don’t know if they have to think a little bit about the health of the players. Not for now that we are playing, but there is life after tennis. “I don’t know if we keep playing on these very, very hard surfaces what’s going to happen in the future with our lives.”
This is the second time Nadal has been forced to retire at the Australian Open, with the first coming in 2010 in a quarter-final match with Scotsman Andy Murray.
Unfortunate scenes here with the world No.1 Rafael #Nadal retiring hurt in the QF 😥@Cilic_Marin progresses through to the SF. #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/IEjPruzvdi
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 23, 2018
What are your thoughts? Do you think tennis officials are neglecting their duty of care for players? Or is it one of those situations with no easy solution?