By Chris Oddo | Saturday March 26, 2016
Suffering in the heat, Rafael Nadal pulled the plug on his second-round match, sending Damir Dzumhur into the third round.
Photo Source: Mike Ehrmann/Getty
An innocent matinee with the world No. 94 turned into a complex inner battle for Rafael Nadal on Saturday in Miami, and it didn’t end well.
Nadal retired from a match for the first time in over six years, handing Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur a 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 RET victory and a spot in the Miami Open’s third round.
Nadal’s last retirement happened at the 2010 Australian Open when he retired from his quarterfinal match against Andy Murray.
"I tried to resist, but I get a little bit scared to be too dizzy," Nadal told reporters after the match. "Hopefully it is nothing. Hopefully is just the extreme conditions out there. Something happen, hopefully it is the beginning of a virus, and in combination with the conditions I had these strange feelings. But just finished half an hour ago, so I don't know."
Nadal started well enough, but he was done in by his inability to close out the 23-year-old in straight sets. After breaking to level at 4-all in set two, Nadal was broken back immediately by Dzumhur, who served out the set in the next game.
At that point Nadal had a lengthy meeting with the tournament doctor while changing his shirt and headband between sets. He was visibly concerned about his condition but elected to continue.
As the third set began, Nadal’s condition appeared to worsen. After jumping out to a 40-0 lead in the first game he dropped five points in succession, dumping a double-fault into the net to give Dzumhur the early break.
After falling behind 2-0 he asked to see the doctor again, then plopped down in his chair and sat with head bowed.
The crowd gave Nadal a big round of applause when he came back to the court for another go. He would drop another game and return to the court after another changeover, but ended up calling it quits after three points in the fourth game.
Dzumhur advances to the third round where he will face Mikhail Kukushkin. Kukushkin was also the beneficiary of a retirement on Saturday. He advanced when Thomaz Bellucci retired after two sets.