Rafa Nadal: "I can't say that I'm not mentally destroyed"

"I didn't want to retire as the defending champion. I lost, it's better to end like this"

MADRID, 18 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal commented after the defeat this Wednesday in the Second Round of the Australian Open in three sets (6-4, 6-4, 7-5) against the American Mackenzie McDonald, after playing injured from the end of the second , who leaves "tired, sad and disappointed" from a tournament in which he defended the crown.

"I can't complain about my life at all. But only in terms of sport and injuries and difficult moments, it's something else. I can't say that I'm not mentally destroyed at the moment, because I would be lying," he acknowledged at a press conference.

Nadal, with this defeat as a consequence of playing physically impaired, is eliminated in an Australian Open, the first 'Grand Slam' of the 2023 season, in which he was defending the title. After requesting medical attention, he wanted to continue until the end and gave up the game without retiring, despite the fact that it was visible that he could not play one hundred percent of him.

"Sometimes it's frustrating. Sometimes it's hard to accept. Sometimes you feel very tired because of all this with injuries. Don't think that I want to take a step back, it's not the case, but my current feelings are bad," explained the Balearic.

At 36 (he will turn 37 in June), the Spaniard spoke about having had physical ailments in his last 'Grand Slam'. In this one, on the hip. "It is evident. In the last three 'Grand Slam' I have not been able to finish any of them in conditions: two abdominal tears, here I do not know what happens in the hip", he recalled.

"We can come here, put on a good face, which I do, and accept things. Which I do too. But one does not have to deceive oneself and make an optimistic speech when it is not so today," the 22 times champion of a 'Grand Slam'.

In this sense, he recognized that it was a "difficult" moment for him. "But let's see, hopefully it's not bad at all. I really hope that doesn't take me off the field for a long time, because then it's hard to recover again, all the amount of work you need to do to get back to a decent level," he argued.

About the match, he explained that he tried to continue playing but "without increasing the damage". "I just wanted to finish the game. I didn't want to retire, being the defending champion here. It's better that way at the end. I lost. I congratulate the rival," said Nadal, who left the track to a great ovation from the public.

On the other hand, on the positive side, he recognized that this Australian tour has been good for him in other aspects. "I needed to spend days on the circuit. These three weeks have been positive, I think that at least I have been able to recover a lot of things in terms of mobility and competitiveness," he assessed.

It was the man from Manacor himself who explained that he will have to undergo a medical resonance to find out the extent of the possible hip injury. At the moment, the next tournament in which he had to play is Doha, to later go to Dubai.

"The only thing left to do is wait, accept things as they come and then follow the (medical) indications. Do things in the best possible way and try to be ready for when I can play again," he concluded.