Those are thoughts of Eurosport pundit and former world No1 Mats Wilander.
Nadal picked up a knee problem and limped during his match against Marin Cilic before retiring from the quarter-final clash at the Australian Open after the second game of the fifth set.
The Spaniard had previously only retired once before in 264 Grand Slam matches, and that also came at the Australian Open in 2010 at the last eight stage against Andy Murray.
While Wilander accepts the retirement will hurt Nadal in the short-term, tennis fans will want him to recover properly so he can continue to play at the top for another few years.
“It was hard all of the last three or four months where Nadal wasn’t himself,” Wilander said.
“He tried to come back, but he couldn’t and now he’s injured again.
“At the same time, sometimes it’s not a bad thing in the long term.
“We want to see Nadal play for another four or five years and I know tournament directors won’t like this, but what happens if Nadal misses the American hard court swing?
“In the long run I’m not sure it matters but in the short term it’s horrible for him.”
Meanwhile, 2017 champion Roger Federer will be looking to book his place in the semi-final when he takes on Tomas Berdych in the evening session in Melbourne.