World No.1 Rafael Nadal retired with a leg injury handing Marin Cilic passage into his second Australian Open semi-final on Tuesday. This is the sixth seed’s second semi-final in Melbourne.

Cilic won 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 2-0 in 3hr 47min on Rod Laver Arena and will face Britain’s Kyle Edmund for a place in the final on Thursday.

It was the second time Nadal has retired at the Australian Open after quitting against Andy Murray in 2010 with a knee injury. Nadal’s exit meant that Cilic is now in his first Australian semi-final in eight years.

Little separated Nadal and big-hitting Cilic until the injury struck, as they traded ferocious groundstrokes in an intense battle.

Nadal was leading two sets to one before he called for the trainer and received a medical timeout trailing 1-4 in the fourth set.

He received treatment for an upper right leg injury and upon resuming his mobility was greatly affected and he lost the fourth set before calling an early end after losing a service break at 0-2 in the fifth.

“It was an unbelievable performance from both us,” said Croat Cilic, the sixth seed. “It is really unfortunate for Rafa to finish this way.”

Cilic, who is coming off a great 2017 where he lost to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final and made the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, said he was delighted with his form.

“Even in these other matches before this one, I played great tennis. Very high level,” he said. “I was always in the process where I want to keep going with my own game and try to lift up, keep pushing as much as I can. So I am extremely pleased with the performance.”

High quality

Before Nadal’s setback it had been a match of high quality, with Nadal edging ahead after a fluctuating third set tiebreaker.

Cilic received a time violation warning while serving down two break points and came up with a double-fault for a break at 2-3 in the second set. But the Croat reeled off two service breaks and levelled the match 6-3 with an ace.

Nadal won a mighty tussle for the third set lasting 72 minutes which went to a tiebreaker. The world No 1 held set point at 5-4 before Cilic held and in the tiebreaker a couple of Cilic misses gave Nadal his second set point which he took with an ace.

But Cilic would not be denied and he broke Nadal’s serve in the fourth game of the fourth set, racing to a 4-1 lead. Nadal took his medical timeout to seek treatment for his leg injury before resuming, but with difficulty.

Cilic broke him a second time to take the match into a fifth set but with Nadal noticeably limping between points, the Spaniard eventually walked to the umpire and conceded.

Cilic served 20 aces, with a fastest serve clocked at 215km/h (165 mph) and broke Nadal’s serve five times, as well as hitting 83 winners and making 62 unforced errors.

Nadal’s retirement follows the departure on Monday of Novak Djokovic, with his immediate playing future uncertain after an elbow injury flared. He also appeared to have a hip problem.

The Spaniard has won just the one title at Melbourne Park, when he defeated Roger Federer in the final in 2009. However, by virtue of his win in the last round, Nadal will still remain the world No 1 when the next rankings come out.

With inputs from AFP