Rafael Nadal lowered his head when changing pitches and rested his elbows on his knees, the very picture of resignation.

The year had already started badly for him, after a year 2022 marred by health problems of all kinds, but he reached his nadir at the Australian Open on Wednesday.

The defending champion and top seed in Melbourne suffered a left hip injury and fell to Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in the second round, ending his title defense abruptly and his attempt to extend his record to 23 Grand Slam Titles.

“It’s a tough moment. It’s a tough day,” said the 36-year-old Spaniard. “I can’t say I’m not mentally broken right now because I would be lying.”

Nadal got up awkwardly after a point at the end of the second set against the American McDonald, ranked 65th in the ATP rankings.

The Spaniard was visited by a coach on the wing and then left the pitch for a medical break. In the stands, his wife wiped away her tears. He returned to the field, albeit with obvious physical issues, and later explained he couldn’t hit a good backhand or run much.

But, as defending champion, he said he didn’t want to leave with a mid-game retirement.

Nadal explained that he had suffered from hip discomfort for the past few days, but never as bad as on Wednesday. He said he did not know the exact nature of his injury, but added that he will undergo tests to determine if the problem is in a muscle, joint or cartilage.

“He’s an amazing champion. He never gives up no matter the situation, so getting close to a guy of his level is always tough,” said McDonald, 27, a 2016 college singles and doubles champion. “I kept focusing on myself and I kept going.”

This is Nadal’s first Grand Slam elimination since his first-round loss in Melbourne in 2016 to Fernando Verdasco.

McDonald’s has never made it past the round of 16 in a major tournament. In his only previous encounter with Nadal, at Roland Garros in 2020, he could only win four games in a very lopsided game.

A year ago, Nadal was crowned in Melbourne and added his 21st Grand Slam title. A few months later in Paris, he took his total to 22, more than any other tennis player on the men’s circuit.

He currently sits second in the ATP rankings, but in Australia he is the No. 1 seed due to the injury of fellow countryman and world number one Carlos Alcaraz.

But lately his body has been playing tricks on him.

He had to inject painkillers into his left foot en route to victory at Roland Garros in June, withdrew from Wimbledon in July before the semi-finals with an abdominal tear and suffered from a costal cartilage problem.

Nadal’s departure takes more shine away from the tournament. Last year’s Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios has pulled out to undergo surgery on his left knee; Naomi Osaka, with four Grand Slams under her belt, is not competing this year as she is pregnant; Two-time major winner Simona Halep is serving a doping ban and Venus Williams was out through injury.

And all this in the first edition of a major since Serena Williams and Roger Federer announced their retirement.

Nadal’s loss stole the show from the rest of the schedule on a day when persistent rain delayed the start of games on all but the three courts with retractable roofs.

The top seed in the women’s draw, Iga Swiatek, easily qualified for the third round by beating Colombian Camila Osorio 6-2, 6-3.

In a duel with the roof closed due to rain, the Polish tennis player suffered a break as she led 5-1 at match point, but took the win two games later. The defending French Open and US Open champion will face Cristina Bucsa of Spain, who beat former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu of Canada 2-6, 7-6(7), 6- 4.

American Jessica Pegula (3rd seed) struggled against Aliaksandra Sasnovich but ended up winning 6-2, 7-6 (5).

In a duel of rising stars in women’s tennis, American Coco Gauff (7th seed) beat Britain’s Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

After midnight, American Danielle Collins, Australian runner-up last year, went the maximum three sets to beat Czech Karolina Muchova 6-7(1), 6-2, 7-6(6) .

Greek Maria Sakkari (6), American Madison Keys (10) and Kazakh Elena Rybakina (22) also qualified. Belarusian Victoria Azarenka (24) swept Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska 6-1, 6-0.

On the men’s side, 28th-seeded Argentine Francisco Cerúndolo reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time after beating Frenchman Corentin Moutet 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7- 5. His next opponent will be Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (6), who won a five-set battle after losing the first two to Slovak Alex Molcan.

Additionally, 15-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner beat Argentinian Tomás Martín Etcheverry 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the third round.

Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (3), Russian Daniil Medvedev (7) and American Frances Tiafoe (16) all advanced with straight-set wins.