Rafael Nadal won’t be back in the Australian Open final this year.
The 31-year-old Spaniard retired in the fifth set of his quarterfinal with Marin Cilic with a right hip injury. After getting broken to fall to 0-2 in the decisive fifth, the No. 1 seed retired, sending No. 6 Cilic to the semifinals against Brit Kyle Edmund, who upset No. 3 seed Grigor Dimitrov, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
“Really unfortunate for Rafa,” Cilic said after his 3-6, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2, 2-0 [ret.] win. “He is an unbelievable competitor. Always gives his best and it’s very unfortunate for him to finish this way. ”
Nadal lost in last year’s final to arch-rival Roger Federer in five sets. He had not lost to a Top 10 seed at a Grand Slam since falling to No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals at 2015 Roland-Garros.
Unfortunate scenes here with the world No.1 Rafael #Nadal retiring hurt in the QF ?@Cilic_Marin progresses through to the SF. #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/IEjPruzvdi
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 23, 2018
Cilic won the 2014 US Open and reached the 2017 Wimbledon final, losing to Federer. Now he is one match away from his first Australian final.
Updated men’s bracket sans Rafa pic.twitter.com/CK4pWSGBHO
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) January 23, 2018
Nadal, winner of 16 career Slams, must now look ahead to the hardcourt season with Indian Wells and Miami, and then the French Open, which he has won 10 times.
Nadal is the latest top player to suffer an injury. Djokovic is battling a shoulder ailment and was ousted in the fourth round by Korean Chung Hyeon, while Andy Murray recently had hip surgery and missed the tournament.
Meantime, Federer becomes the favorite to repeat as Australian Open champ and win his 20th career major.
Federer has to be the favorite to repeat and win his 20th major, although Berdych and Cilic are both huge servers and monster hitters. https://t.co/VwIhLg86vh
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) January 23, 2018
Major Titles for remaining men:
Federer – 19
Cilic – 1
Berdych – 0
Edmund -0
Sandgren – 0
Chun – 0 https://t.co/PMrw3d9jns— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) January 23, 2018
Photo: Australian Open
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