As if the rain that wiped out all play on Melbourne Park’s outside courts until evening on Wednesday wasn’t bad enough, at 5.30pm came the mightiest of blows to the Australian Open 2023.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal, he of 22 major crowns, crashed out, hampered by a hurt hip but in truth floundering badly against the American journeyman Mackenzie McDonald long before the match-defining damage.
