MELBOURNE, Australia – Rafael Nadal injured his left hip flexor in a loss on the Australian Open and may need around six to eight weeks to completely get well, his manager said on Thursday.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion underwent an MRI at Melbourne Hospital under the supervision of his doctor on Thursday, a day after sustaining an injury during a straight out of Mackenzie McDonald in round two at Melbourne Park.
He was still the defending champion and seeded No. 1 in Australia.
![Rafael Nadal](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Rafael-Nadal-1.jpg?w=1024)
The 36-year-old, who will now head home to Spain to rest, he wrote on Twitter that the scans showed a moderate grade 2 tear with a “normal recovery time of six to eight weeks.”
Nadal has lost seven of his last nine matches, suffering a fourth-round defeat on the US Open in September.