Rafael Nadal faces up to eight weeks out of action with the hip flexor injury he sustained on his way out of the Australian Open.
The defending champion and top seed in Melbourne was bundled out 6-4 6-4 7-5 by world number 65 Mackenzie McDonald on Wednesday, struggling to move around the court during the closing stages of the contest.
He refused to retire and afterwards confirmed he aggravated an issue he had been suffering with for a couple of days. The 36-year-old Spaniard knew the problem he had been suffering with for a "couple of days" had worsened, but he was unsure exactly what was causing it.
Now Nadal has clarity, receiving details of the injury after tests on Thursday.
He knows that provided all goes to plan, he should be back on court for the clay-court stretch in Europe leading up to the French Open, where the 14-time winner is also the defending champion.
Nadal wrote on Twitter: "Good afternoon. I have carried out medical tests after the defeat yesterday. The MRI shows a grade two lesion in the iliopsoas of the left leg. Now it's sports rest and anti-inflammatory physiotherapy. Normal recovery time six to eight weeks."
The 22-time major winner may struggle to get back to full fitness in time for the Indian Wells and Miami Masters 1000 events in March.
Those are due to be preceded on his schedule by a high-profile exhibition match in Las Vegas against Carlos Alcaraz on March 5; however, both men are presently injured, raising doubts over whether that will go ahead.
Nadal was distraught to suffer yet another injury setback, after severe foot and abdomen problems hit his 2022 season.
"In terms of sports and in terms of injuries and tough moments, I mean, that's another one," Nadal said on Wednesday. "I can't say that I am not destroyed mentally at this time, because I will be lying."
Rybakina books place in Miami Open final after extending winning streak to 13
Elena Rybakina is now one win away from completing the Sunshine Double after defeating Jessica Pegula 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 in Thursday's Miami Open semi-final.
Only four women have ever claimed the Sunshine Double – which requires winning both the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open. Steffi Graf did it in both 1994 and 1996, Kim Clijsters did it in 2005, Victoria Azarenka accomplished the feat in 2016 and current world number one Iga Swiatek did it just 12 months ago.
Rybakina sent a message to the tennis world as she knocked out both world number one Iga Swiatek and world number two Aryna Sabalenka to take home the Indian Wells crown, and she has carried that form into Miami.
After prevailing in three-setters against Anna Kalinskaya and Paula Badosa, the Kazakhstan representative has now rattled off consecutive straight sets victories against Elise Mertens, Martina Trevisan and Pegula to extend her winning streak to 13 matches.
Against Pegula, Rybakina served 11 aces to the American's one, and in the process she became the first woman to serve at least 10 aces during five matches in the same tournament since Serena Williams back at Wimbledon in 2016.
By securing the first-set tiebreaker, Rybakina claimed her tour-leading seventh tiebreaker win of the season, with a perfect 7-0 record.
She will meet the winner between Petra Kvitova and Sorana Cirstea in the final after the Czech veteran emerged victorious 6-4 3-6 6-3 in her quarter-final against Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova.
The neck-and-neck contest saw Kvitova only narrowly edge the total point count 96-91, but she created nine break points to Alexandrova's six.
Kvitova, 33, is now one win away from her 41st WTA singles final, where she would be seeking her 30th WTA title, and her ninth at the WTA 1000 level. It would be her first at this level since the 2018 Madrid Open, following defeats in the finals of the 2019 Dubai Championships, the 2020 Qatar Open and the 2022 Cincinnati Open.
Alcaraz continues quest for Sunshine Double with Fritz win, Medvedev and Khachanov progress
World number one Carlos Alcaraz made it 10 wins in a row in Miami and kept alive his hopes of a rare Sunshine Double as he beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets in Thursday's quarter-finals.
Alcaraz swept aside the 2022 Indian Wells champion 6-4 6-2 in a lopsided Miami Open contest which lasted only 79 minutes, with the Spaniard breaking Fritz in the opening game of both sets.
Both players hit 20 winners, including 11 each on their respective forehands, but Fritz almost doubled Alcaraz' unforced errors count (28-13).
The 19-year-old was impressive from the baseline and overwhelmed Fritz in the end. The American only won 38 per cent on his second serve.
Alcaraz, who won the Indian Wells title a fortnight ago, remains on track to become the eighth male to win the Sunshine Double (Indian Wells and Miami), with Roger Federer the last to achieve that in 2017.
The Spaniard would join Federer (2005, 2006, 2017), Novak Djokovic (2011, 2014, 2015, 2016), Andre Agassi (2001), Marcelo Rios (1998), Pete Sampras (1994), Michael Chang (1992) and Jim Courier (1991) in achieving the Sunshine Double.
Alcaraz will take on Italian 10th seed Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals, after the duo faced off in the Indian Wells last four a fortnight ago, with the Spaniard winning in straight sets.
In-form Daniil Medvedev progressed to the semi-finals with a 6-3 7-5 victory over American qualifier Chrstopher Eubanks, who had enjoyed a dream run in Miami.
Medvedev has a 27-3 record this season and will pursue a fifth straight ATP Tour final when he takes on compatriot Karen Khachanov in the semi-finals.
Khachanov, who made this year's Australian Open semi-finals, defeated Francisco Cerundolo 6-3 6-2 in 76 minutes.
Medvedev chasing fifth straight final - 'I've never had such a good start to the season'
Daniil Medvedev says he has never started a season this well before following his 27th victory of the year to secure his place in the Miami Open semi-finals on Thursday.
The Russian world number five prevailed over American qualifier Christopher Eubanks 6-3 7-5 to qualify for the Miami semis after falling in the last eight in both 2021 and 2022.
Medvedev's progress comes after his 19-match winning run was ended in the Indian Wells Open final by Carlos Alcaraz a fortnight ago.
The 27-year-old has now won 22 of his past 23 matches and is 27-3 on the season, having won titles in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai and is now chasing a fifth straight appearance in an ATP Tour final.
"I have never had such a good start to the season," Medvedev said. "A lot of matches won, tournaments won. I am really happy.
"I was disappointed at Indian Wells when my streak ended on the same number as last time. The only thing you can do is begin a new streak and I am happy to bring my form into Miami."
Medvedev will rise up to fourth in the ATP rankings if he lifts the Miami title, with the incumbent Casper Ruud suffering a third-round loss to Botic van de Zandschulp earlier this week.
The 2021 US Open champion is clear atop the ATP standings for most match wins in 2023, with his 27 well ahead of the next best, Cameron Norrie (21-5).
The Russian, who will take on countryman Karen Khachanov in the semi-finals, credited work with mental coaches for his improvement in 2023.
"That's something I want to improve," he said. "For example, talking about Indian Wells, I had my tantrums, which it's not good.
"It can throw you out from the concentration, and it's not a good look anyway, but I managed to still win matches and still be concentrated during those matches."
On the Khachanov match-up, which he leads 3-1 on head-to-head, he added: "I think maybe just a little bit you have to kind of force yourself even more to be focused, and when I say this, it's just because they know your game so well and you know theirs so well.
"I'm almost sure we know how the match is going to go tomorrow, and it's a question of who's going to make the best shot out of [the shots] we're going to play."
Mar 28, 2023 NBA
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