Rafa Nadal suffered ‘grade 1’ hip muscle injury, facing three weeks out

Rafael Nadal is facing three weeks on the sidelines after suffering a “grade 1 injury” of the inner hip muscle in Melbourne.

Nadal was forced to retire from his quarter-final match against Marin Cilic on Tuesday after hurting his hip in the fourth set.

He said after the match: “In the fourth at one movement, one drop shot I think, I felt something.

“At that moment I thought something happened, but I didn’t realise how bad, how bad was what’s going on in that moment.

“My leg was blocked, I couldn’t sustain pain anymore.”

The world No 1 underwent an MRI and other tests with his team revealing he sustained a “grade 1 injury of the illiopsoas”. That is the inner hip muscle.

Nadal will be out for three weeks, likely to return to the tour for Acapulco.

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