Rafael Nadal believes the injury he suffered during his quarterfinal match against David Ferrer at the Australian Open was a hamstring tear.
Nadal told reporters afterwards that he did not want to discuss details of the injury out of respect for his opponent, but was quoted by wire service EFE as saying in Spanish, "I know what I have. I have nothing important it is a broken [muscle] fibre. I have the point perfectly located and I know what it is."
After losing 6-4, 6-2, 6-3, Nadal said, "I would prefer [not to] talk a lot about the injury... he played at a very high level, and I wasn't able to compete against him tonight.
"Seems like I always have problems when I lose, and I don't want to have this image, no?
"I tried my best all the time. But is obvious that I didn't feel at my best. I had a problem during the match, in the very beginning. After that, the match was almost over."
It is the second year in a row Nadal has exited the tournament with an injury. He retired at the same stage against Andy Murray last year. "I hate the retirements, so this wasn't the day. I did last year. I hate that moment. I didn't want to repeat that," said Nadal, when asked if he had only played on because Ferrer was a friend.
Comparing that siutation to this year, Nadal said, "Is different because last year was the knees. I had a problem, big problem, in the knee in the past. So was hard for me to have another time the same. I didn't see a solution in that. Is not the case [this time]."