Nadal is annoyed about Aus – and is looking forward to his son

“I have much more important things to worry about than tennis,” said the Spaniard, who longed to be at the side of his heavily pregnant wife Xisca Perelló. “Now is the moment to have my first son and hope that everything will be okay.”

The prospect of fatherly joys soon should console him for the fact that he clearly missed out on his 23rd Grand Slam title in New York. In the 4:6, 6:4, 4:6 and 3:6 defeat against Frances Tiafoe in the round of 36, Nadal was physically and playfully unable to stop the American, who was unleashed. In tennis you have to be “very fast and very young – and I’m not that at the moment,” said the XNUMX-year-old Nadal with a pained smile.

Frances Tiafoe celebrated the biggest victory of his career. © APA/afp / ANGELA WEISS

Of course, he also knows that with his age, injuries increase, regeneration takes longer - and that young stars like Tiafoe, Nick Kyrgios and compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, who could snatch number one in the world rankings from under his nose after the tournament, are getting better and better. For him it was now time for “a fresh start, it’s been a few tough months,” said the tired-looking Mallorcan. He left it open when he would return to the professional tour: “When I feel like I’m ready to compete, then I’ll be there.”

Nadal was not ready against Tiafoe. The outsider wore down the world star with 49 winning shots, some cheeky balls and typical American self-confidence. Nadal, who was recently stopped by an abdominal muscle injury before the Wimbledon semi-finals, did not want to blame it on his injury history. “I have to be critical of myself,” he said. “I was facing a player who was better than me. And that’s why I now have a flight home.”

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Nadal is annoyed about Aus – and is looking forward to his son

After his surprising and deserved exit in the round of 16 at the US Open, the badly scarred Rafael Nadal just wanted to go home.

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