Rafael Nadal refused to retire from his second-round match at the Australian Open despite suffering a hip injury in his shock defeat.
The reigning champion and top seed in Melbourne crashed out on Wednesday, going down 6-4 6-4 7-5 to world number 65 Mackenzie McDonald.
Nadal started sloppily in the first set and then pulled up with an apparent upper leg issue after chasing a forehand at 4-3 down in the second, and his movement was clearly hampered from that point on.
The 36-year-old confirmed he aggravated an issue he had been suffering with for a "couple of days" prior to his meeting with McDonald.
Nadal could well have handed McDonald a walkover, but explained that as defending champion, he did not want to go out without a fight.
"I considered all the time stopping, but I didn't ask," he said in a press conference. "I have to know myself, and I tried to keep playing without increasing the damage.
"I was not able to hit the backhand at all. I was not able to run for the ball. But I just wanted to finish the match. That's it.
"I didn't ask them [his team]. I am old enough to take my own decisions. I didn't want to retire, [as] defending champion here. No, I didn't want to leave the court with a retirement.
"It's better like this. I lost. Nothing to say. Congratulations to the opponent. Just try your best till the end, it 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, and I tried of course to not increase the damage, because I didn't know what's going on."
Nadal, who is the first top seed to go out in the second round of the Australian Open since Gustavo Kuerten in 2001, is unsure as to the extent of his injury.
"I don't know what's going on, if it's a muscle, if it's a joint. I have history in the hip, I had issues. I had to do treatments in the past," he said.
"Now I feel I cannot move. But I don't know till I do the test and all this stuff, I don't know. I don't know.
"I'm tired of talking about it. I understand, but I lost the match. That's it. I tried until the end. I don't know if in good condition I would win the match. I will have better chances without a doubt."
Nadal added that he would be "lying" if he said he had been mentally destroyed by the issue, given the comfort of his life outside tennis.
However, the 22-time grand slam champion is still motivated to return to the court.
"It's a very simple thing: I like what I do. I like playing tennis," he added.
"I know it's not forever. I like to feel competitive. I like to fight for the things that I have been fighting for almost half of my life or even more.
"It's not that complicated to understand, no? When you like to do one thing, sacrifices always make sense. When you do things that you like to do, at the end of the day, it's not a sacrifice. You are doing the things that you want to do. Sacrifice is when you are doing things that you don't want to do."
The Spaniard conceded another long spell away from the court would be difficult, though.
He said: "Of course it's tiring and frustrating to spend a lot of [this] part of my career recovering and trying to fight against all this stuff all the time.
"I have had seven months playing almost nothing, and then if I have to spend a long time again, then it's super difficult in the end to be in rhythm and to be competitive and to be ready for the fight. Let's see how the injury is, and then let's see how I can manage to follow the calendar."
Dominant Gauff double bagels Rus at Madrid Open
Coco Gauff made a flying start to her Madrid Open campaign on Thursday, recording the first double bagel main-draw win of her career as she cruised past Arantxa Rus to reach the round of 32.
Gauff needed just 51 minutes to see off 33-year-old Rus as she booked a meeting with Ukraine's Dayana Yamstremska for Saturday.
The US Open champion lost just 18 points throughout the match – eight in the opener and 10 in the second set – as she put any doubts over her recent form to bed in emphatic fashion.
Gauff's power proved too much for Rus in the opener, the third seed winning 88 per cent of points behind her first serve and converting three of four break points to go a set up in just 23 minutes.
Rus brought up four break points midway through the second set, but when she failed to convert them, Gauff punished her in ruthless fashion by reeling off another three games then finishing things with a terrific forehand winner.
Speaking after her win, the American said: "I played really well today. It was just one of those days for me… 6-0 6-0, I've never done that before, I'll probably never do it again."
Data Debrief: Gauff matches Azarenka, Halep feat
Gauff is just the third player to register a 6-0 6-0 win in the women's singles draw at the Madrid Open, following in the footsteps of two former world number ones in Victoria Azarenka and Simona Halep.
The American, who only turned 20 last month, is also the youngest player to double bagel an opponent in any main-draw match on the WTA Tour since Iga Swiatek did so against Karolina Pliskova in the 2021 Italian Open final in Rome.
Nadal cruises past teen Blanch to tee up De Minaur rematch in Madrid
Darwin Blanch presented little challenge for Rafael Nadal, who dropped just one game in a convincing 6-1 6-0 triumph at the Madrid Open.
Nadal is feeling his way back to fitness, but 16-year-old qualifier Blanch offered little resistance to the 22-time major champion on Thursday.
Making his farewell appearance at the Madrid Open, where he has won five titles, Nadal needed just 64 minutes to progress to round two.
"I think today I played against an opponent with a great future in front [of him], but today, still making mistakes," said Nadal.
"I just tried to be there, be solid all the time without taking a lot of risks. It worked well. I'm happy to be through and I wish him all the very best for the future."
Nadal's reward is a rematch with Alex de Minaur, who he lost to last week in Barcelona.
Data Debrief
This game saw the largest age gap (21 years, 117 days) between two opponents in the history of ATP Masters 1000 events.
Nadal has now registered 57 wins at the Madrid Open, which is 20 clear of any other player.
Osaka eliminated by Samsonova in Madrid
Naomi Osaka was knocked out of the Madrid Open by Liudmila Samsonova after an entertaining second-round battle on Thursday.
Having won her first match on clay for two years against Greet Minnen a day earlier, Osaka was able to force a final set against 15th seed Samsonova but ultimately fell to defeat.
Samsonova won a close encounter 6-2 4-6 7-5 to book a clash with American Madison Keys – who defeated Irina-Camelia Begu in straight sets – in the next round.
Osaka had beaten Samsonova at Indian Wells last month and came close to securing another victory as she recovered well from losing the opening set.
But the Japanese star was broken to fall 5-6 behind in the final set, and the Russian made no mistake in ruthlessly closing out the victory.
Data Debrief: Samsonova ends losing streak
This was a crucial win for Samsonova, who came into the match having lost four consecutive contests, including that Indian Wells defeat to Osaka on March 9.
Samsonova did apply plenty of pressure in the final set – forcing five break points compared to just one for Osaka – and was ultimately rewarded in the closing stages of a contest that lasted two hours and 22 minutes.
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