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Australian Open: World No 1 Rafael Nadal retires hurt leaving Marin Cilic to face Kyle Edmund in semi-finals

The No 1 seed was favourite to win in Melbourne: Getty Images
The No 1 seed was favourite to win in Melbourne: Getty Images

Rafael Nadal has won more matches here at the Australian Open than at any other Grand Slam tournament except the French Open, but the injury curse which has brought him down so often in the past struck again here on Tuesday.

Nadal twice led by a set in his quarter-final against Marin Cilic, but injured a hip muscle in the fourth set and was eventually forced to retire with the Croatian leading 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2, 2-0. Nadal had been hoping to reach his 27th Grand Slam semi-final, but instead it will be Cilic who will face Britain’s Kyle Edmund on Thursday.

The 31-year-old Spaniard, who was unable to play any warm-up tournaments before arriving here because he was recovering from a knee injury, admitted these were “tough moments”.

He added: “This is not the first time an opportunity has gone for me. 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 to fight for an important title.

“In this tournament this has already happened to me a couple of times in my life. I really don’t want to say that it’s frustrating, but it’s really tough to accept, especially after the tough December that I had without having a chance to start in Abu Dhabi and then Brisbane.

“I worked hard to be here. We did all the things that we believed were the right things to do to be ready. I think I was ready. I was playing OK. I was playing a match in which anything could happen: I could win or I could lose. I'm being honest. He was playing well, too.

“But I was fighting for it. I was two sets to one up. I will just have to try to recover, go back home, stay with my people, and keep going. That's all. Always in the tough moments, even if it’s difficult to think this way, there are so many positive things that happened in my career.”

Marin Cilic beat Rafa Nadal to take the other semi-final place against Edmund (Getty Images)
Marin Cilic beat Rafa Nadal to take the other semi-final place against Edmund (Getty Images)

Nadal, who said he would know more about the injury after having an MRI scan on Wednesday, had seen his Australian Open hopes dashed by injury on three previous occasions. In 2010 he had to retire during the third set of his quarter-final with Andy Murray because of a knee injury and the following year he was beaten in same sets at the same stage by David Ferrer after suffering a hamstring problem. He also had a back issue when he was beaten by Stan Wawrinka in the 2014 final.

Cilic had taken only one set off Nadal in their previous five meetings, but the 2014 US Open champion started to play superbly in the fourth set before Nadal suffered his problem. He was hitting some huge shots from the baseline and attacking at every opportunity.

It was in the fourth set that Nadal was forced to take a medical time-out for treatment to his hip. “The muscle started to feel a little bit tired in the third set, but I was I playing normally and I didn’t feel restricted,” he said. “Then in the fourth set I did one movement - a drop shot I think – and I felt something. I thought something happened, but I didn't realise how bad it was at that moment.”

Nadal was treated on court for a hip or thigh injury (Getty Images)
Nadal was treated on court for a hip or thigh injury (Getty Images)

After losing his serve in the second game of the fifth set Nadal decided that enough was enough. “It was really unfortunate for Rafa,” Cilic said afterwards. “He’s an unbelievable competitor who always gives his best. It was very unfortunate for him to finish this way.”

Nadal said the number of injuries suffered by players should be of concern to the game. “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. It’s not just about now, when we are playing, but there is life after tennis. If we keep playing on these very, very hard surfaces I don’t know what's going to happen to us in our future lives.”

Nadal cut a frustrated figure (Getty Images)
Nadal cut a frustrated figure (Getty Images)

Cilic, meanwhile, said he was “extremely pleased” with his own game. “Even in these other matches before this one, I played great tennis, at a very, very high level,” he said.

Edmund and Cilic have met only once before, the world No 6 having won in two close sets at last year’s Shanghai Masters.

“I'm going to prepare for that match like for any other one,” Cilic said as he looked ahead to Thursday’s semi-final. “Kyle has had an amazing run here. He’s won a lot of tough matches and played great tennis. He's also very entertaining to watch. He’s a big hitter with a great serve and a great forehand. He plays great on the hard courts.

“For me, it’s another good opportunity. Obviously on paper it would probably be easier to play Kyle than Rafa, but he deserves to be here.

“I need to continue to keep a big focus on my own game. I cannot influence him much across the net, but I’m going to try to take care of things on my side of the court. Hopefully I'm going to have another great match.”