Rafael Nadal injures by American, Gauff Tiafoe and Pegula keep rolling

The 2023 Australian Open was largely unblocked for the first two days. Rafael Nadal, the reigning champ and No. American Mackenzie McDonald was the No. 1 seed. And it wasn’t just a loss — it was a straight-sets defeat. Nadal defeated McDonald’s by 6-4, 6-5, 7-5 in 2 hours and 32 min.

McDonald’s, a 27 year-old McDonald’s player who has never ranked in the top 40 of the ATP rankings, performed admirably against Nadal. But he did have some help. Nadal was down 1-0 at the end of the second match. He then injured his hip. It was his hip. Nadal’s team including his wife believed that it was. were visibly devastated when they realized he was hurt. Nadal didn’t retire. He spent the match wandering around the court, probably knowing he would lose.

Nadal did manage to make one final stand in the third set. He tied McDonald’s at five sets each. However, the signs were clear. McDonald’s won the final two games. The 2022 Australian Open champion had been defeated.

What did the Americans do differently?

The Americans are still leading, but seven players from the 20 who were playing on Day 3 were eliminated. All the rest of the Aussie Open players are still in contention for the crown. This includes Danielle Collins, who beat Karolina Manyova to the title, and Mackenzie McDonald (who shockingly defeated Rafael Nadal). These are the American winners of Day 3.

  • No. 3 Jessica Pegula def. Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 7-6(5)

  • No. 7 Coco Gauff def. Emma Raducanu 6-3, 7-6(4)

  • No. 10 Madison Keys def. Xinyu Wang 6-3, 6-2

  • No. 13 Danielle Collins def. Karolina Manyova 6(1)-7.6-2.7-6(6)

  • No. 16 Frances Tiafoe def. Juncheng Shang 6-4, 6-4, 4-1

  • No. 29 Sebastian Korda def. Yosuke Watanuki 6-2. 7-5. 6-4

  • Bernarda Pera def. Qinwen Zheng 6-4, 6-4

  • Brandon Holt def. Aleksandar Vukic def.

  • Denis Kudla def. Roman Safiullin 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(6), 6-3 (Round 1)

  • Claire Liu def. Madison Brengle 6-3, 6-4 (Round 1)

  • Maxime Cressy def. Roberto Ramos-Vinolas 7-6(2), 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 (Round 1)

  • Michael Mmoh def. Laurent Lokoli 4-6. 6-2 (Round 1)

  • Lauren Davis def. Danka Kovinic, 1-6, 7-5 and 6-1

Sloane Stephens (Madison Brengle), Christopher Eubanks; Elizabeth Mandlik; Catherine McNally; Alison Riske–Amritraj; and the ageless John Isner were all defeated. They will not move on to the next round.

Some other notable results

  • Iga Swiatek is the No. Camila Osorio, the No. 1 seed, was easily defeated in straight sets.

  • No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Rinky Hijikata by rolling over her qualifier in just 92 seconds.

  • No. No. 6 Maria Sakkari made a comeback after losing her first set. She beat Diana Schnaider in three.

  • Felix Auger – Aliassime, No. 6 men’s seed had to also make a comeback during his match. He lost the first and second sets, but won the third set. He defeated Alex Molcan.

  • No. 8 Daria Kasatkina lost badly against Varvara Gracheva. She won just three games in two sets.

  • No. 7 Daniil Mevedev won John Millman easily in three sets.

  • No. No.

  • The No. Petra Kvitova was the 15th seed for women and lost to Anhelinakalinina.

Hubert Hurkacz is also a winner, as well as Barbora Krajcikova and Cam Norrie.

Highlights of the Day

Danielle Collins, who was locked in a tiebreaker against Karolina Manyova at the end a three hour battle, completely forgot all about the new (ish?) ten-point tiebreak rule from Grand Slams. All four Grand Slams established a rule that required tiebreakers in the final set to be decided by ten points, instead of seven. This was implemented in 2022. Collins, fighting hard to win, forgot about the rule and celebrated her victory once she had reached seven points. It was funny to see her realize she hadn’t won yet. She was able also to laugh about it.

What to see on Day 4

Novak Djokovic, along with many other top seedes, will be back in focus on Day 4. Here’s what you can expect on Day 4.

  • No. 2 Ons Jabeur vs. Marketa Vondrousova

  • No. 2 Casper Ruud vs. Jensen Brooksby

  • No. 4 Novak Djokovic vs. Enzo Couacaud

  • No. 4 Caroline Garcia vs. Leylah Fernandez

  • Andy Murray vs. Thansi Kkinakis

Only three of the 14 Americans who will compete on Day 4 are going to face seeded players. Unseeded competitors will include Taylor Fritz, eighth-seeded, lucky loser Denis Kudla and Ben Shelton, first-timer to the Aussie Open. This will be an important day for the Americans and the USA contingent may be smaller tomorrow. These are the seeded and unseeded American competitors they will face.

  • Jenson Brooksby against No. 2 Casper Ruud

  • Shelby Rogers vs. 5 Aryna Sabahlenka

  • Maxime Cressy against No. 9 Holger Rune

  • Katie Volynets vs. No. 9 Veronika Kudermetova

  • Claire Liu vs. No. 12 Belinda Bencic

  • Michael Mmoh vs. No. 12 Alexander Zverev

  • Taylor Townsend vs. 19 Ekaterina Alexandrova

  • J.J. Wolf vs. 23 Diego Schwartzman

  • Brandon Holt vs. No. 24 Roberto Bautista Agut

  • Lauren Davis vs. No. 26 Elise Mertens

  • Tommy Paul vs. 30 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina

The full Day 4 schedule is available here.

Rafael Nadal reacts during the men's singles 2nd round match against Mackenzie McDonald of the United States at Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 18, 2023. (Photo by Bai Xuefei/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal reacts to Mackenzie McDonald (USA) during the men’s singles round match in Melbourne, Australia on January 18, 2023. (Photo by Bai Xuefei/Xinhua via Getty Images

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