Out for Nadal at the Australian Open 2018: Pain forces him to forfeit

Actually, everything looked like a victory for Rafael Nadal in the virtelfinal against Marin Cilic. The semifinals at the Australian Open 2018, even the final, were already in sight, but then things unexpectedly turned out differently.

The spectators witnessed a great match between the world number one Rafael Nadal and the sixth of the ATP world ranking, the Croatian Marin Cilic. It was a match at eye level and at the very highest level, with impressive longline and cross-court passing shots and strong winners, but Nadal was still a notch stronger, a touch superior. And so he won the decisive third set in a tie-break. Nadal now had a clear two-set lead after the third set. At this point, it was only a question of time before the Spaniard could celebrate. But things turned out differently, in the fourth match he felt a twinge in his upper leg, the flare-up of an old injury? He felt something was wrong and had to call for a medical time-out. The right leg and groin hurt, but the 3-minute treatment doesn't help. He tries to play on, but at the fifth set sees that it just doesn't work anymore and gives forfait at 2:0. What a drama!

This means the 2018 Australian Open title favorite is eliminated early due to health problems and Cilic advances to the semifinals to face ATP World No. 49 Kyle Edmund, a 23-year-old Englishman.