What Rafael Nadal's Loss to Lucas Pouille Means for Australian Open 2017

Rafael Nadal won't capture a major title for the second consecutive year after getting eliminated in the fourth round of the 2016 U.S. Open by Lucas Pouille, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6), in a match that took four hours, seven minutes Sunday.

ESPN Tennis captured Pouille's reaction after he finally finished off Nadal:

"

WHAT. A. MATCH.

22yo @la_pouille wins 4hr 7min thriller over two-time champ Nadal 6-1 2-6 6-4 3-6 7-6(6). #USOpen pic.twitter.com/nMCYuuBeeY

— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) September 4, 2016"

Nadal was able to fight back to force a tiebreaker in the fifth set, but ESPN's Chris Fowler noted one of the big reasons the Spaniard ultimately lost:

Nadal enjoyed a resurgence during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He won a gold medal in doubles with Marc Lopez and reached the semifinals in the singles competition, though back-to-back losses to Juan Martín del Potro and Kei Nishikori prevented him from getting a medal.

Those results, which came after an extended absence to give a lingering wrist injury time to heal, raised expectations heading into the U.S. Open.

He admitted during the buildup toward the final Grand Slam of the year that there wasn't much more he could do but play and hope the joint held up, per Peter Bodo of Tennis.com.

"The wrist is still the same," Nadal said. "With more rest, the wrist will not go better. The wrist needs to adapt again to the game, needs to adapt again to hit the ball."

Nadal looked strong in the first three rounds in Flushing Meadows, New York, as he didn't drop a single set heading into Sunday. But as SportsCenter noted, this is the fist time since 2004 that Nadal has failed to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal in a calendar year.

Ideally, the 30-year-old veteran could sit out for a predetermined amount of time and come back healthy. The question marks have continued to linger even after he spent some time away, however, which makes his long-term outlook harder to predict.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion isn't letting the uncertain situation stop him from planning his 2017 season, though.

SuperSport Blitz confirmed the Spanish superstar will make his season debut at the Brisbane International in January, a key Australian Open warm-up event:

Nadal proved in Rio that he's still one of the best players in the world when in top form. Unfortunately, his body has prevented that from happening on a consistent basis in recent years, which is why he hasn't captured a major title since the 2014 French Open.

The Spaniard will hope he doesn't suffer any further setbacks during the remaining portion of the 2016 campaign. If he can arrive at the Australian Open healthy, he'll at least have a shot at bringing his Grand Slam drought to an end in January.