Rafael Nadal out of Australian Open after suffering hip injury
Rafael Nadal has aborted his comeback and withdrawn from the Australian Open after suffering a small hip muscle tear.
Forty-eight hours after receiving an off-court medical timeout during a quarter-final defeat at the Brisbane International, the 37-year-old Spaniard discovered through an MRI scan in Melbourne that he had sustained a micro tear. This is a very small rip that can occur when an athlete puts a heavy load on the muscle fibre during physical activity.
While Nadal could have attempted to play through it after a period of rest this week, he has sensibly decided to head back to Spain for treatment. Contesting the extended best-of-five-sets grand-slam format would have risked making the injury worse.
Although this is a blow for Nadal after all his
