Marcos battled hard, but was unable to overcome former World No. 1 and former champion Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open. Nadal won 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 to advance to the third round on Thursday at Melbourne Park.
Marcos has kicked off his 2017 campaign in strong form, having reached the semi-finals at the ASB Classic in Auckland last week and second round at the first Grand Slam of the year. Despite the loss, he fired 20 winners, including seven aces, and saved 10 of 16 break points faced.
With his passionate legion of Aussie fans cheering from the stands, Marcos, who memorably reached the final in 2006, earned the first break chance of the match at 1-1 in the first set. He would eventually convent in the seventh game, but was unable to stop Nadal's momentum. The Spaniard later took his third match point after after two hours and 12 minutes.
Still in the doubles draw with close friend Gilles Muller, Marcos will hope to extend his stay in Melbourne. They face fourth seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers on Friday. It will be the last match on Court 7, with play beginning at 11:00am local time.
