Concerns have risen over Rafael Nadal’s surgically repaired left hip just three matches into his comeback from a yearlong injury layoff and just over a week before the Australian Open.
The 22-time major winner needed a medical timeout in the third set of his Brisbane International quarterfinal loss to Jordan Thompson on Friday after failing to convert three match points in the second.
Nadal miscued an overhead backhand on his first match point in the 10th game of the second set, about two hours into the contest. He then missed consecutive forehands from 6-4 in the tiebreaker before No. 55-ranked Thompson rallied to win 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-3.
With the Australian Open starting Jan. 14, Nadal’s rehabilitation from the hip injury and surgery that sidelined him for the rest of 2023 after the last Australian Open will be tested.
“I hope to have the chance to be practicing next week and to play in Melbourne,” he said. “Honestly, I am not 100 percent sure of anything now.”
Nadal said it felt more like a muscle issue than the tendon problem that caused him so much trouble last year, and he was hopeful it was just fatigue.
“A lot of things can be happening in a body like my body after a year without playing tennis,” he said. “So hopefully it is just that, just a muscle that is supercharged. If that’s the thing, perfect.”
The 37-year-old Spaniard opened the tournament with straight-sets wins over Dominic Thiem and Jason Kubler but was pushed for 3 hours, 25 minutes by Thompson in what was his third match in four nights.
His energy level waned at the start of the third set. After Thompson took a 4-1 lead, Nadal was assessed by the trainer for his upper left leg and took a medical timeout.
He said the pain was in “a very similar place to what happened last year, but different stuff.”
“It’s not the same like last year at all because when it happened last year, I felt something drastic immediately,” Nadal said. “Today I didn’t feel anything. The only problem is because the place is the same, you’re a little bit more scared.”
After sending a backhand long on match point to end the longest rally of the match, Nadal walked around the net to embrace Thompson. He blew a kiss and waved to the crowd as he walked off Pat Rafter Arena around midnight.
“Obviously, he’s one of the best of all time, so there’s no pressure on me,” Thompson said. “But there’s always a sense of pressure playing at home, in front of an Aussie crowd. He can destroy an opponent, so there’s always that element that can make you nervous. But you still got to take it to him and play your own game.”
Thompson advanced to a semifinal against second-seeded Grigor Dimitrov.
Top-seeded Holger Rune had a 6-2, 7-6 (6) win over James Duckworth to set up a semifinal against Roman Safiullin, who beat Matteo Arnaldi 7-6 (4), 6-2.
