The tail end of an elite athlete’s career will always be tricky to navigate not just for them but also to the millions of people who have adored them over the years. The tennis world had witnessed Roger Federer’s emotional farewell to the sport last year at the Laver Cup. While his dear rival Rafael Nadal vowed to keep playing for as long as possible, his second-round match against Mackenzie McDonald at the Australian Open indicated otherwise.

Nadal, who didn’t really look his best throughout the match, managed to put up a decent fight and tried to stay close with the young American in terms of score line. However, in the middle of the second set, the Spaniard looked to struggle physically as well and things started looking south from there on for him.

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At 3-5 down in the set, Nadal took a medical time-out and came back looking devastated and even looked teary-eyed. From then on, Nadal’s struggles looked even more prominent as he failed to create any sort of impact to change the outcome of the match. Even Nadal’s box looked down and out. There is a video of his wife Mary tearing up as she couldn’t bear to witness Nadal’s physical struggles once again.

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However, the Spaniard decided to finish off the match and put up a fight till the end despite his box urging him to retire. In the third set, Nadal’s physical issues became more evident as he was visually struggling to move but used all his experience to hold his service games before losing the same at 5-5.

Credit where it’s due, the young American Mackenzie McDonald didn’t pay heed to the entire situation and focused on his game. Serving for the biggest win of his career so far and probably going to be the most memorable one, McDonald didn’t flinch as he ended up defeating Rafael Nadal in a tight three-set battle, 6-4,6-4, 7-5.

As for Nadal’s future at Melbourne is concerned, this could very well be the last time that fans got a glimpse of the legend. As physical struggles keep popping up, it will be incredibly difficult for the Spaniard to keep pushing through the pain and continue playing at the highest level.

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