Australian Open: Nadal blames tour organisers for injury

Rafael Nadal blames Australian Open organisers for dangerously heavy workload after injury forces him out of the tournament.

Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts after retiring against Marin Cilic in their quarter-final

UPDATE: Rafael Nadal has accused organisers of the Australian Open for forcing players into a dangerously busy schedule after retiring hurt in the fifth set of his quarter-final last night.

After a shock elimination by Marin Cilic, the world No 1 linked the workload players are forced to endure at the Melbourne tournament with the high number of injuries this year.

“Somebody who is running the tour should think a little bit about what’s going on,” Nadal said in a post match press conference. “Too many people are getting injured.

“I don’t know if they have to think a little bit about the health of the players. Not for now that we are playing, but there is life after tennis.

“I don’t know if we keep playing on these very, very hard surfaces what’s going to happen in the future with our lives.”

Nadal called for the trainer for the first time down 1-4 in the fourth set and received treatment high on his right leg by the side of the court. He received further attention after he lost the fourth set and shook Cilic’s hand after he lost his first service game of the final set.

“It’s not my hip, but I can’t tell you exactly the muscle,” a despondent Nadal said after he limped slowly into his post-match press conference in obvious discomfort.

“It’s high on the leg.

“We’ll communicate what’s going on after I have an MRI (on Wednesday).”

The Spaniard said he first felt that the muscle was “a little bit tired” in the third set then felt something happen when he played a drop shot in the fourth.

Nadal withdrew from tournaments at the end of last season due to an ongoing knee injury that also forced him out of this year’s Brisbane International. Players of the calibre of Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic have also struggled with injuries over the past 12 months.

Open shock as Nadal pulls out

Rafael Nadal has called it the good face. The positive expression and body language he’s used to get through his toughest matches. Yet when Marin Cilic started overpowering the world No 1 in tonight’s massive boilover at the Australian Open, Nadal started mumbling to his courtside box, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. The bad face.

The tournament has been turned on its head. The defeat of world No 3 Grigor Dimitrov by Kyle Edmund was followed by Nadal’s shock elimination by Cilic, who hit 83 winners in an electrifying five-set triumph that ended when Nadal withdrew from injury.

The Croatian was furious when he received a time violation early in the second set. He double-faulted the next point, lost his serve, argued with the umpire, yelled in his native tongue but then played with so much controlled aggression that Nadal was unable to mask his own frustrations as he succumbed to what appeared to be a hip flexor injury. Cilic won 3-6 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 2-0.

“Unbelievable,” Cilic said. “Very unfortunate for Rafa to finish this way.”

Nadal was prepared to run to Bells Beach and back in order to hit a forehand rather than a backhand. His two-hander is not weak but it was letting him down last night. The forehand was mega-strong but down on its usual velocity. The most damaging groundstroke in the history of the sport normally has unrivalled control on top of the thunderous power and ball-mutating spin but it could not get him out of trouble last night. The backhand became rigid and ineffective under pressure.

The forehand was again belted with bulging bicep, Popeye-strong forearm and violent snap of the wrist. Even when they’re not winners, Nadal’s forehands grind an opponent into the dust. It’s ridiculously heavy and jumps higher than Angus Young during a guitar solo for AC/DC. Nadal has won his 16 major championships from a very good serve, a very decent backhand, incredible fitness, obsessive dedication — and the forehand to top them all. The follow-through again resembled the motion of someone who had just cracked a whip, but it was Cilic peeling the lines.

Pre-match outside the men’s dunnies in the corridor to Rod Laver Arena, Cilic was sprinting on the spot as if he was preparing himself to run, run, run from the first ball. “Hurry up, Rafa!” a spectator shouted at Nadal when he was taking longer than the allotted 25 seconds between points, and yet it was an incensed Cilic who received a time violation at break point in the fifth game of the second set.

Rafael Nadal in a world of pain against Marin Cilic Picture: AAP.

He double-faulted and his anger was palpable. Both players were taking longer than allowed and they were both getting away with it until Cilic was held to account.

Nadal’s celebration of the third-set tie-breaker was one for the books. He planted his feet, stared at his courtside box, paused for a second, clenched both fists, pumped them relentlessly by his sides and screamed at the top of his voice. Come on! Come on!

You might think he would run away with the match but Cilic hung tough with his determined face. Nadal needed a five-minute medical time-out in the fourth set and the next point, he did not chase the ball down. It was a telling moment. The grimacing face.

Nadal seemed ready to shake hands and withdraw after losing the first game of the fifth set but he carried on. The injury was clearly uncomfortable. He limped between points when he would normally stride. He looked resigned to the loss.

The bad face was an understandable face. When Cilic nailed a running forehand passing shot to lead 2-0 in the final set, Nadal walked straight to the umpire’s chair and shook hands. Then he did the same with Cilic.

“It’s impossible to know,” Nadal said of the extent of the injury.

“It’s difficult to know the muscle it was. “Tomorrow I am going to do an MRI. “I thought something had happened but I didn’t realise how bad. I just accept the situation. That is all. Tough moments — it’s not the first time here. I had an opportunity but it’s gone for me. I

am a positive person but today is an opportunity lost to fight for an important title. It’s really tough to accept. I worked hard to be here. I did all the right things to be ready. I was playing OK. I was fighting for it. Always in the tough moments ... there’s so many positive things in my career. This is negative but I don’t want to complain.”