WATCH: “With you, it is always the same,” Rafael Nadal goes on a rant and blames chair umpire Marijana Veljovic over serve clock during his second-round match at the Australian Open
Rafael Nadal does not sit calm after chair umpire Marijana Veljovic keeps him on his toes during serve and denying him time to use towel.
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Chair Umpire Marijana Veljovic and Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal‘s title defense has not seen a great start at the 2023 Australian Open. After a tiring first-round win over Jack Draper in four sets, Nadal found himself losing the first set in the second round as well. Up against American Mackenzie McDonald on the Rod Laver Arena, the Spaniard conceded the first set 6-4.
While Melbourne saw its temperature scale going off the roof recently, sudden rains brought about a strark change in the weather. As a result, the humidity increased resulting in players sweating profusely during their high-intensity matches and thus reaching for their towels more often than usual. This led to Nadal’s shocking meltdown on court which shocked the audience, to say the least.
With Nadal’s quite famous serve routine, he has been often accused of taking extra time violating the 25-second serve clock. During the second round match, the chair umpire, Marijana Veljovic, was very particular about this and it did not go well with the Spaniard. Also, since the pandemic, players take their towels themselves and with the big courts, the time taken is more to reach the towel and return to baseline.
As he went a double break down in the first set, he became quite vocal about the issue. “I cannot go with towel. Every time I am on a rush. Even if serving normal, without a towel, everytime I see the clock at five, four, with you it’s always the same. For you it doesn’t matter, I cannot get the towel everytime. The towel is there,” said an angry Nadal.
Rafael Nadal crashes out in straight-sets after injury scare
Things just went downhill for the Spanish ace from here in the second round which he also lost. Other than the set loss, he suffered an injury scare. At 5-4 in the second set, Nadal was seen limping and then grabbing his abs. He eventually had to call his trainer and received medical treatment inside the locker room.
He returned shortly after and continued playing losing the second set. The third set went closer than the first two but it wasn’t enough for him. The injury obviously took a toll on his stamina and energy levels. However, he chose not to retire and steal McDonald‘s thunder as the American was sensational throughout the match even before the injury.
The American won the match 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 to hand Nadal a big defeat. Defending 2000 points, the World No. 2 is likely to fall out of the Top-5. The bigger concern for him would however be his injury and how much time it would take him to regain fitness ahead of a big hardcourt season.
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