Reigning men's singles champion Rafael Nadal crashed out of the Australian Open in the second round. The 22-time Grand Slam winner was labouring with injury in a straight-sets loss to American Mackenzie McDonald at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday. And as the Spaniard bowed out of the tournament, his wife Maria Francisca Perello was seen in tears. In a video doing the rounds on social media, Nadal coaches and family looked distraught.
Nadal was trailing 4-6, 3-5 when he took a medical time-out after moving to his left to chase a forehand and pulled up in pain with an apparent upper left leg injury. The 36-year-old Spaniard returned to play out the match but he was clearly not 100 per cent physically fit for the rest of the match and McDonald wrapped up the win 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in two hours and 32 minutes.
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