Rafael Nadal's fairytale comeback after a year out of the professional tour has hit a speed bump. He suffered an injury setback in his quarter-final loss at the hands of Australian player Jordan Thompson at the Brisbane International on Friday. What's truly concerning is that he suffered the discomfort on the same hip where he underwent the surgery that kept him out of the entire 2023 season.
The match was tight from the beginning, with Nadal winning the first set at 7-5. He appeared to be on the way to closing out the match in the second set but failed to convert three match points. He ended up losing 7-5, 6-7 (6-8), 3-6 in a match that lasted almost three-and-a-half hours.
