World No.1 Rafael Nadal is demanding officials investigate the spate of injuries at the top of tennis after suffering yet more Australian Open despair at Melbourne Park.
A crestfallen Nadal was left to ponder what might have been after being forced to retire with a leg injury while trailing big-hitting Croat Maric Cilic 3-6 6-3 6-7 (7-5) 6-2 2-0 in their quarter-final on Tuesday night.
It was the second time the Spaniard had been forced to quit a quarter-final mid-match on Rod Laver Arena, after also pulling the pin against Andy Murray in 2010 with a knee injury.
Seemingly cursed in Melbourne, Nadal was crippled by a back injury during the 2014 final against Stan Wawrinka, a year after withdrawing from the Open before a ball had even been hit because of a stomach complaint.
“Tough moments. It’s not the first time an opportunity that is gone for me,” Nadal said.
“I am a positive person, and I can be positive, but today is an opportunity lost to be in the semi-finals of a grand slam and fight for an important title for me.
“In this tournament it’s already happened a couple of times in my life, so it’s really I don’t want to say frustration, but it’s really tough to accept.
“Who knows, if I didn’t have all these injuries …”
Nadal, who entered the Open on the back of just one match in almost three months due to more knee issues, will undergo scans to determine the exact nature of the leg-muscle injury that forced his latest Open exit.
He called for the trainer for the first time when down 1-4 in the fourth set and received courtside treatment.
Hobbling horribly, the top seed received further attention after he lost the fourth set and shook Cilic’s hand after he dropping his first service game of the final set.
“It’s not my hip, but I can’t tell you exactly the muscle,” Nadal said.
With five-time finalist Andy Murray missing the Open after undergoing hip surgery, fellow former world No.1 Novak Djokovic missing the last six months of 2017 with an elbow injury and Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic also prematurely ending their seasons, Nadal wants answers.
Defending champion Roger Federer is the only member of the so-called Big Five fit and healthy.
Murray has also called for studies into why so many players are struggling with injuries, but 36-year-old Federer – who carefully manages his schedule – simply attributes the attrition rate to age.
“Shave 10 years off our age and we probably will do better,” Federer said at the 2017 season-ending championships in London
“A lot of the guys are just touching 30-plus, you know. Back in the day, at 30, a lot of guys were retiring – Edberg, Sampras.
“It was like normal at 29, 32, to start looking towards the end of your career. Now you guys expect everybody to play till 36.”
Nadal, 31, isn’t so convinced.
“Somebody who is running the tour should think a little bit about what’s going on,” he said.
“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.”
