Melbourne, Australia – At last evenings men’s quarter-final match up between Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, we all got a shock in the third set when the world No. 2 retired due to an irritation in his right knee. Murray was leading 6-3 7-6(2) 3-0.
The men had many great rallies throughout the match and enthralled the audience at Rod Laver Arena for two-and-a-half hours. Nadal admitted it was the same knee problem as the one in 2009, and refused to play through the pain. Nadal hopes his early retirement from the Australian Open reduces any extra stress that could have affected his injury more.
Nadal also admitted he was playing the man with the best game currently and didn’t believe he could win the match. He didn’t want to push his limits and make the same mistake he made last year in Rotterdam, when he never retired.
Because Nadal is now unable to defend all of the points he won in claiming the Australian Open title last year, world No. 3 Novak Djokovic is projected to replace him at No. 2 when the new rankings are published next Monday. Nadal could fall as low as No. 4 should Murray make it to the final, with the Scot expected to pick up enough points to leapfrog his vanquished opponent.
