Aussie tennis star turned commentator Rennae Stubbs believes Rafael Nadal has played his last Australian Open after the injured Spanish great was knocked out of the grand slam in emotional scenes on Wednesday night.
Nadal's wife Maria Perello broke down in tears in the stands as her husband fell to a straight-sets defeat to Mackenzie McDonald while suffering from a painful hip injury that required a medical time-out.
He left the court to a standing ovation from the packed crowd, marking the sixth time injury or illness has cruelled his Australian Open campaign.
The outpouring of emotion from the crowd - and Rafa's reaction to it - prompted Stubbs to predict Aussie fans wouldn't see the 36-year-old playing in their home grand slam again.
'Judging by this, I think its the last time we will see this great champion on Rod Laver Arena,' she wrote on Wednesday night in a tweet accompanied by footage of Nadal waving to the crowd and returning their applause as he walked off the court.
Stubbs' take on the 22-time grand slam champion divided fans online.
'Judging by this he's just lost a match and heading back home to prepared for what's next!' wrote one commenter.
'Sadly I think you're right. I think his swan song will be at RG. He's going to play selected tournaments (Indian Wells being one of them) before then. He retires after RG,' tweeted Jon Robles, referring to Roland Garros, home of the French Open.
'May be just a setback that any player at any stage of career could go through,' Melinda Crump wrote.
'Yes I agree, he will bow out gracefully like Roger [Federer],' added Karen Wadsworth.
After the match Nadal, who's long chronicled the constant physical and mental agony of scrapping with the pain of chronic injuries, made it sound as if he could hardly bear the thought of having to go through yet on more ordeal to get back to his championship best.
'I really hope that it doesn't put me out of the court for a long time,' he sighed, admitting he still didn't know the nature of the hip problem that made him feel he 'couldn't move' against American Mackenzie Macdonald in his straight-sets defeat.
'It's not only the recovery. It's all the amount of work that you need to put together to come back at a decent level. I went through this process too many times in my career.'
'I am ready to keep doing it, I think - but that's not easy.'
Last year, incredibly, he won in Paris without being able to feel his left foot at all because of the painkilling injections, but since suffering with the abdominal and rib issues that wrecked his Wimbledon and US Open bids, he really has looked a shadow of his old self.
This time last year, he reeled off 21 straight match wins to begin 2022. Including his US Open exit, he's won just two of nine matches and this was his earliest exit at any grand slam since he got beaten in the 2016 Australian Open first round by Fernando Verdasco.
The good news? It's Nadal's love of the sport that will drag him back to the well one more time.
'It's a very simple thing: I like what I do,' he said. 'I like playing tennis. I know it's not forever. I like to feel myself competitive. I like to fight for the things that I have been fighting for almost half of my life or even more.
'When you do things that you like to do, at the end of the day, it's not a sacrifice.
'Sacrifice is when you are doing things that you don't want to do. And that was not my case.
