Rafael Nadal hit Australian Open ball boy and fumed at umpire before crashing out injured | Tennis | Sport

Rafael Nadal accidentally hit a ball boy with a rogue shot and argued with umpire Marijana Veljovic before being knocked out of the Australian Open by Mackenzie McDonald. The Spaniard struggled with a hip injury during his second round showdown with the American as he ultimately went down to a 6-4 6-3 7-5 defeat.

After falling behind in the early stages of the contest, Nadal found himself serving to stay in the first set at 3-5 down. And at 15-0 up he fired down a serve, with McDonald’s return going long. Nadal played another shot as McDonald’s return was called out but ended up mishitting the ball as it careered wide of the court and straight into the ball boy.

The ball boy took the full force of the ball, with Nadal and Veljovic both checking in on him to see if he was okay before the match continued.

Nadal, who defied the odds to win his second Australian Open title last year after overturning a two-set deficit against Daniil Medvedev in the final, was guilty of a furious outburst at Veljovic while he was sitting in his chair as he thought she was rushing him by starting the timer too early before each of his serves.

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Nadal came into the Australian Open off the back of six defeats in seven matches after suffering an abdominal injury at last year’s Wimbledon. And there will now be question marks over his future in the sport after he hurt his hip while running for the ball in the second set against McDonald before whimpering to defeat.

“Sometimes it’s frustrating,” Nadal said after the match. “Sometimes it’s difficult to accept. Sometimes you feel super tired about all this stuff in terms of injuries. Can’t come here and say, lying, that the life is fantastic and staying positive and keep fighting. Not now. Tomorrow starts another day. Now it’s a tough moment. It’s a tough day, and you need to accept that, and keep going.”