"Cachito" Ramírez no descarta retirarse a fin de año: "Sé que se acerca el final"

Rafael Nadal got injured: he withdrew from the Australian Open and there won't be a dream final against Roger Federer.

Martes 23 de Enero del 2018

Rafael Nadal said goodbye to the Australian Open and to a dream final against Roger Federer. The Spanish player got injured in the quarterfinals and missed out on the first Grand Slam of the season.

Rafael Nadal Abandons Australian Open Due to Injury

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal, world number 1, abandoned the Australian Open quarter-final match against Croatian Marin Cilic due to a right leg injury. The score was 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2 and 2-0 on Tuesday in Melbourne.

Nadal requested a medical timeout during the fourth set to receive a massage on the upper part of his right leg. Afterwards, he couldn't run normally.

Cilic will compete for a spot in the final against British player Kyle Edmund (49th), who surprised Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (N.3) in four sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 and 6-4.

Even without the injury, Nadal could have lost the high-flying match because Cilic gave him problems from the beginning.

Australia | Dominant debut by world number 1 Rafael Nadal (🇪🇸), who swept Victor Estrella Burgos (🇩🇴) by 6-1, 6-1, 6-1. pic.twitter.com/PIPSXSXyU0

— Drive Cruzado (@DriveCruzado) January 15, 2018

"It was a great match between the two of us. It's a real shame for Rafa, who is a great fighter, to end like this," said Cilic, who will play his second Australian Open semifinal after 2010.

Nadal, 31 years old, arrived in Australia without practice due to a knee injury that forced him to retire from the Masters in London in November. In last year's edition of the first Grand Slam of the year, he was a finalist against Roger Federer.

After his withdrawal, only three seeded players remain in the tournament: Cilic (N.6), already in the semifinals, and Federer (N.2) and Tomas Berdych (N.19), who will play in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

AFP