"I am old enough to take my own decisions" - Rafael Nadal denies family involvement amid Australian Open 2023 injury and loss

Rafael Nadal suffered a heart-breaking loss at the 2023 Australian Open. The Spaniard, who was the defending champion, went out in the second round of the tournament at the hands of Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.

As he battled through the encounter, Rafael Nadal seemed to pick up a hip injury; he was in visible distress towards the end. Although the 22-time Grand Slam champion took a medical timeout, he decided to carry on with the match, refusing to retire.

Notably, Rafael Nadal's family had pleaded for him to retire during his injury-marred Wimbledon 2022 quarterfinal win against Taylor Fritz. In that context, he was asked in his post-match press conference on Wednesday if his team and family had any say in his decision to continue playing at the Australian Open despite suffering another injury.

In reply, the defending champion stated that he was experienced enough to make his own decisions and that he did not turn to the player’s box or ask for their opinion about the situation.

"I didn't ask them. I am old enough to take my own decisions. So I didn't want to retire, to be defending champion here. 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," he remarked.

"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, and I tried of course to not increase the damage, because I didn't know what's going on," he added.

Rafael Nadal also revealed that he refused to ask the physiotherapist if continuing to play was an advisable choice.

"I consider all the time stopping, but I didn't ask the physiotherapist at the end. I have to know myself. And I tried to keep playing without increasing the damage. No, that's it. 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," he said.

"I feel I cannot move" - Rafael Nadal sheds light on his Australian Open 2023 injury

Rafael Nadal sustained an injury at 2023 Australian Open

Rafael Nadal sustained the injury during the second set of his Round 2 loss to Mackenzie McDonald. The Spaniard conveyed during the presser that although he was facing discomfort for a few days, the injury drastically worsened with one particular movement during the match.

"It have been a couple of days like this, but nothing like today in that movement. I don't know. We're gonna start talking about that now, but I don't know what's going on, if it's muscle, if it's joint," he said.

He further suggested that the injury, which is yet to be determined, curbed his ability to move.

"I have history in the hip that I had issues. I had to do treatments in the past, address a little. Was not this amount of problem. Now I feel I cannot move," Rafael Nadal said.