Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev remain on a collision course for the Australian Open quarterfinals and they will be back in action on Wednesday. Nadal awaits Mackenzie McDonald, while Medvedev faces John Millman.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Mackenzie McDonald
Nadal survived what was always going to be a tough test in the form of Jack Draper on Day 1 at the Australian Open. Draper was neck and neck with the top seed through two sets, but the 21-year-old Brit predictably wore down physically in a best-of-five situation and Nadal prevailed 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. That marked the 36-year-old Spaniard’s first win of the season, as he had previously compiled a 0-2 record at the United Cup (three-set losses to Cameron Norrie and Alex de Minaur).
Up next for Nadal on Wednesday is a second career meeting with McDonald. Their only previous encounter came at the 2020 French Open, where Nadal cruised 6-1, 6-0, 6-3. A hard court will obviously give McDonald a much better chance, but a four-hour and two-minute struggle with fellow American Brandon Nakashima on Monday is not ideal preparation (McDonald survived 7-6(5), 7-6(1), 1-6, 6-7(10), 6-4). Don’t be surprised if this is similar to Nadal’s first match, with the underdog staying competitive for a while before fading late.
Pick: Nadal in 4
John Millman vs. (7) Daniil Medvedev
Medvedev and Millman will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers on Wednesday. A battle with Medvedev at one his favorite tournaments just one round following a grueling five-setter is probably not what the doctor ordered for Millman. The 33-year-old Australian outlasted Marc-Andrea Huesler 6-7(8), 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-3 on Monday, needing four hours and five minutes to advance.
Although Medvedev has not been in peak form dating back to the end of last year’s Australian Open, a return Down Under with lower expectations may be a recipe for instant success. The world No. 8 is 4-0 so far this season and 4-0 against opponents not named Novak Djokovic. A back-to-back runner-up at Melbourne Park, Medvedev was simply ruthless in round one and improved to 13-2 in his last 15 matches at this event by destroying a previously in-form Marcos Giron 6-0, 6-1, 6-2. Unfortunately for the home crowd, this has all the makings of another beatdown.
Pick: Medvedev in 3
How pathetic are these rabid Rafa fans, nobody is giving credit to McDonald who completely outplayed Rafa, not even Rafa himself?!
McDonald was set and 5:3 in the second ahead when “injury” occurred, he was much better player.
Rafa looked old and slow, that’s the fact.
Rafa came ready to fight to defend title, he was fighting fit, he believed in it, otherwise he wouldn’t bring entire family to Melbourne!
Injuries or no injuries, I have no complaints MacMac was definitely the better player, sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and say too good, it’s not the end of the world.
And here we have Rafa, after going break down, trying to disrupt the rhythm of his opponent by abusing chair umpire for doing her job, not giving him extra time to pull his undies out of his plumber crack:
https://youtu.be/O0BoRW0z21w
So Rafa confirmed he’s torn a muscle and will need 6-8 weeks to heal. Sigh. Very difficult road ahead. I think he’ll keep going for now but will be quite vulnerable. Looks like and hope he only returns in time for Monte Carlo.
Wrote a post which disappeared.😠
Basically it said that if Rafa’s confidence really is shot and his anxiety of 2015 has returned then the future is potentially very bleak.
There’s no point sugar coating reality.
I saw the info about Rafa’s injury. A grade 2. I did not realize it was a torn muscle. It does not sound good. Another setback. Six to eight weeks to heal.
What bothers me is that Zverev is going around saying that Rafa will retire after RG. Why is he talking fir Rafa? People here say don’t talk about retirement, but Zverev opens his big mouth about it. On ESPN last night Chris Fowler mentioned what Zverev said. Then he said it is probably true that Rafa will retire after one more RG.
I wish people would just shut up and let Rafa do the talking. He has earned the right to make the decision on his own.
Zverev did say that before the match Rafa got injured nny which actually makes it even more extraordinary he would say it. I came on here 2/3 days ago and posted about it and said what on earth is Zverev on about!!?
amy,
I am very frustrated with Zverev. It is not his place to talk about Rafa’s injury or retirement. Of course the ESPN commentators pick it up and run with it.
Rafa deserves better than that. He has earned the right to make decisions regarding his career. He will know when it’s time.
On VB they are saying it’s good that it isn’t the joint. I read that he had this injury in 2018 and it flared up again at Acapulco.
They also said Rafa could go out of the top 10 for the first time. He can’t play at IW or Miami. He has to recover from this if he wants a shit at the clay season.
Nny, I looked at the live rankings. He is defending quite a lot of points so will almost definitely drop out of the top 10. It’s going to be hard.
Of course I meant a SHOT at the clay season!
I guess it is what it is. It seems so unfair.
Wow.:) Dont tell me he constipated on top of everything else
Nadal will be back by April and he will win the French open. He’s not retiring anything no matter his age or the injuries. Even if he’s destroyed mentally because of this injury, he’s coming back and playing to win.
Unlike everyone else, I choose to be optimistic and that is me facing reality. 2021 and 2022 were much worse than this with Nadal considering retirement and what happened? He came back and won 2 grandslams and cancelled any retirement talk. We have been here before many times and he always bounced back. That IS reality.
People forget that the Olympics will be played on clay next year and Nadal has made it abundantly clear that his dream is to win the Olympic gold (again) on clay. He’s been waiting forever for this. So if anyone thinks Nadal is retiring this year bc of whatever injury, they are in for a rude awakening. He’s coming for that gold at the Olympics next year, period.
This is a hip injury not the feet issue. If it’s the feet issue which is incurable and is by far the worst of all his injuries then we can worry and be terrified. I don’t care whether he has had 5 or 10 injuries in 9months and he’s 36 years and is losing to everybody. He is an indefatigable fighter and warrior, hence the 22 slams. He’s coming back to win the French open. Zverev can keep dreaming if he thinks Nadal will retire after the French.
Lionel Messi at the age of 35+ years came and won the World Cup last year against all odds and won the player of the tournament playing exquisite football. Nadal watched it and he said he cried along with Messi bc he knows how Messi has really suffered for so many years to win it and when everyone gave up on him (and he has had his injuries too though not like Nadal), he roars back and does the impossible by winning the World Cup at an old age (in terms of football). Messi was talking about retiring from international football after the World Cup and lo and behold, he changed his mind after winning it, saying that he wants to continue playing as world champion for some time and he is still playing well at the club level and might even play in the next World Cup if he so wishes (according to his coach). Messi’s win has inspired a lot of people to never give up especially the king of never give up himself:Nadal.
I believe Nadal still has a few more slams to win (French open ofcourse and others) and it is not written in the stars that Djokovic will end up with the most slams, Nadal in my opinion will end up with the most if his body is managed well. Djoko fans believe djoko will end up with 30 slams. Delusional? Maybe. I chose to have that kind of crazy faith in Nadal no matter the results bc rafa has proven me wrong time after time especially last year when he had no business winning the Australian open and especially the French open (beating Djoko for that matter in the quarterfinals) with the SEVERAL injuries he had leading up to it.
Vamos Rafa. Come back and do your thing and prove everyone wrong again. If Messi did it, you can and will do it. The end.
He didn’t bounce back after injury in 2015 and parts of 2016. He could hardly play on court at times because of the mental injury he suffered.
He didn’t win a slam from RG 2014 until RG 2017. That’s 3 years! No way could he repeat that at his age. It would be horrible to watch.
Anyway, I am being premature. But the warning signs have been there plain to see. e.g. during his match with de Minaur his saying to Lopez why am I so lacking in confidence.
I said after that that if he really was suffering from such low levels of confidence he would almost certainly lose early.
I grant you I am being premature in looking ahead though. Rafa didn’t have Moya in 2015 and, in my view, he really needs Moya to help him now. If he can then I hope he can battle through the clay season which will likely be very difficult at first and win #23 at RG.
If he does then he will recover his confidence.
Link to WTA Page!
: https://tenngrand.com/australian-open-womens-draw-swiatek-a-heavy-favorite-but-contenders-abound/
Ricky, could you please put it on the drop-down menu, so the link doesn’t get lost?
So much for beating Rafa and then to get shat on in the next round……,in str8ts!!!! That tells me all I need to know!! Sigh!!