"Champion says goodbye" - Boris Becker, Bianca Andreescu, and sports world react to Rafael Nadal's emotional exit at Australian Open 2023
Rafael Nadal's exit at the 2023 Australian Open was just as emotional for his colleagues and admirers in the tennis world and beyond, as it was for him and his many fans. Boris Becker, Bianca Andreescu, and soccer superstar David de Gea, among others, reacted to the Spanish great's gut-wrenching loss on Wednesday.
Hampered by a hip injury that surfaced midway through the match, Nadal limped to the finish line as he lost to American Mackenzie Mcdonald 4-6, 4-6, 5-7. The Spaniard and his family members were visibly dejected throughout and an emotional Nadal left the court amidst huge cheers from the crowd at Rod Laver Arena.
After the match, players, both past and present, and fans alike, sympathized with the 22-time Grand Slam champion and many expressed hope to see him recover from injury yet again and keep going. German tennis great Boris Becker reacted to the warm applause for Nadal as he left the court.
"The champion says goodbye," Becker wrote on Instagram stories.
Bianca Andreescu, who was competing on another court as the Spaniard's match concluded, expressed concern for his well-being after learning of his situation.
"Is Rafa ok tho??" Andreescu wrote on Twitter with a sad emoji.
Is Rafa ok tho??☹️
Australian great Dylan Alcott also showed his regret after the match.
#AusOpenRafa :( ❤️ #AusOpen
Nadal's fellow Spaniards, World No. 25 Roberto Bautista Agut and Manchester United star David de Gea, also reacted, showing respect to the 36-year-old with comments on his social media post after the loss.
"Cheer up," Bautista Agut wrote on Nadal's Instagram post, while De Gea used a 'goat' emoji.
"Try your best till the end; That's the essence of the sport" - Rafael Nadal explains why he chose not to retire from Australian Open 2R match
Just as he has done many a time over the course of his career, Rafael Nadal chose not to retire midway through his second-round match at the 2023 Australian Open, despite being forced to play way short of his best self due to a hip injury. Shedding light on the same, the 36-year-old said that he did not want to retire from the match as the defending champion and thus wanted to see off the match, even if it meant that he went down fighting.
However, the biggest reason behind him continuing until the end was to live up to his philosophy of 'never giving up.' For the 22-time Grand Slam champion, that is the "essence of the sport."
"So I didn't want to retire, to be defending champion here," he said in a post-match press conference. "No, I didn't want to leave the court with a retirement. Better like this at the end. I lost. Nothing to say. Congratulate the opponent."
"That's the sport at the same time. Just try your best till the end. Doesn't matter the chances that you have. That's the philosophy of the sport. That's the essence of the sport by itself. I tried to follow that during all my tennis career," he added.
The Spaniard will now return home and conduct a few tests to learn the extent of his hip injury. He did not share any plans for the next tournament in his schedule and will decide on the same only after he learns about the severity of his injury.