FROWN UNDER

Hip injury ends Rafa's last chance of Oz glory

- NEIL MCLEMAN

RAFA NADAL looks likely to have played his last Australian Open after pulling out of this year's tournament with a "micro tear" on his hip suffered in Brisbane last week.

But the 22-time Grand Slam champion says the injury is "not very bad news" for the rest of what will probably be his last season on the circuit.

And the Spanish superstar, who is 38 in June, hopes to be in peak form for the start of the clay-court season.

Nadal injured his hip in his second round defeat at the 2023 Australian Open and had surgery in June.

He won two pain-free matches at his comeback event at the Brisbane International but required medical treatment during his marathon quarter-final loss to world No.55 Jordan Thompson, where he failed to take three match points.