MELBOURNE - Rafa Nadal’s Australian Open title defence lay in ruins on Wednesday after an injury-plagued defeat that shook up the men’s draw, even as rain wreaked further scheduling havoc at Melbourne Park on day three. A wincing Nadal suffered a left hip problem midway through his 6-4 6-4 7-5 loss to American Mackenzie McDonald at Rod Laver Arena and gloomily played out the match in pain. The result not only opens up the top half of the draw, it also hands Novak Djokovic a boost as the Serb hunts a 10th title at Melbourne Park to draw level with Nadal’s 22 major triumphs in the Grand Slam race. “It has been like this a couple of days,” said Nadal of his injury. “I have a history of hip issues. “I’ve had to do treatments in the past but it was not this amount of a problem.” For all Nadal’s struggles, hard-hitting McDonald was hugely impressive and had the better of the match before his veteran opponent broke down. Another shock appeared set to rock Melbourne Park when Felix Auger-Aliassime went two sets down against Alex Molcan at Margaret Court Arena but the Canadian sixth seed rallied to close out the match 3-6 3-6 6-3 6-2 6-2. Daniil Medvedev flexed his muscles to ease past Australian John Millman 7-5 6-2 6-2. Stefanos Tsitsipas was equally dominant against another home hope in Rinky Hijikata as the Greek third seed won 6-3 6-0 6-2. Men’s dark horse Jannik Sinner also swept into the third round by waltzing past Tomas Etcheverry 6-3 6-2 6-2. Rain kept the players off the outer courts throughout the day session, however, adding to fixture congestion triggered by extreme heat and storms on Tuesday when nine matches did not get started and two could not be completed. Matches eventually got going following a delay of over six hours and after waiting nearly a day, Thanasi Kokkinakis needed three minutes and five points to dispatch Fabio Fognini 6-1 6-2 6-2 and set up a second-round match with Andy Murray. There was less tension in the women’s side, as Iga Swiatek overcame Camila Osorio 6-2 6-3 under the roof on Rod Laver Arena. Coco Gauff outshone Briton Emma Raducanu to win 6-3 7-6(4) in the evening session. Greek sixth seed Maria Sakkari had a scare on Margaret Court Arena against 18-year-old Diana Shnaider and was forced to come from a set down to beat the Russian teenager 3-6 7-5 6-3 over more than 2½ hours. Bianca Andreescu crashed to a 2-6 7-6(7) 6-4 defeat by Cristina Bucsa while Petra Kvitova fell 7-5 6-4 against Anhelina Kalinina and Sloane Stephens was beaten 7-6(2) 6-4 by Anastasia Potapova as Grand Slam champions continued to tumble out. But Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina returned to the spotlight of John Cain Arena after her Court 13 opener to dispatch Kaja Juvan 6-2 6-1, while Barbora Krejcikova beat Clara Burel 6-4 6-1. Victoria Azarenka lost only one game en route to beating Nadia Podoroska.
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