Defending champion Rafael Nadal is out of the Australian Open. He suffered a straight-sets defeat in the second round of the tournament. Mackenzie MacDonald of USA defeated Nadal 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 to enter the third round. McDonald earned the biggest win of his career against top seed Nadal in the first Grand Slam of the year. The American made a bright start to the match and looked in good touch from the very first set. Although Nadal was also in good form in the beginning, but he got injured in the middle of the match and his rhythm deteriorated. Taking advantage of this, the American player pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament.

This is Nadal's worst performance in any Grand Slam in the last seven years, winning the Australian Open in 2022. The 36-year-old Nadal was battling a back injury during the match. For this reason, he had to take a break as well. Nadal returned to the court after a short break, but he did not appear in the old rhythm and had to face defeat. Nadal was constantly struggling during this match and seeing him struggling on the court, his wife Maria Francisca also started crying. 

When Nadal took a medical timeout during the second set, match commentator Jim Courier said, "I can't believe what just happened. His backhand doesn't have the pace, which shows there's a problem. I hope it is not the same problem that made him go out of Wimbledon last year. He had won many matches in a row. At Wimbledon also he won two matches in a row. He was trying to win the calendar Grand Slam And then didn't play in the semi-finals. He's got a problem with Todd and you can see it's a really big problem."

Nadal recorded a stunning four-set victory over Jack Draper in the first round. After this Nadal had expected a better performance in the second round but he looked even worse. In the second round, he was out of touch right from the start of the match. At the same time, McKenzie started well and continued to play aggressively. For this reason, he managed to win the match in straight sets.