Rafael Nadal ‘very sad’ as he withdraws from Wimbledon, Nick Kyrgios into maiden Grand Slam final

Wimbledon
Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon

Rafael Nadal’s 2022 Wimbledon campaign has come to an end after the 22-time Grand Slam winner withdrew from his semi-final against Nick Kyrgios due to injury.

The Spaniard struggled with an abdominal injury during his quarter-final clash against Taylor Fritz on Wednesday and at several times looked like he would throw in the towel after his family encouraged him to retire.

However, he pushed through and claimed a thrilling five-set victory over the American, but admitted afterwards that he was not too sure what the immediate future holds as he needed further scans.

Those scans revealed that he had a 7mm tear in his abdomen and, after he practiced on Thursday to see if he would be able to take to Centre Court the following day, he confirmed his withdrawal.

“I have a tear in the abdominal muscle. I think all day about the decision, but if I keep going the injury will be worse and worse. I’m very sad,” he said.

“I made the decision because I can’t win two matches. I can’t serve at normal speed. In respect to myself, I can’t perform at the level I need.

“I can’t risk playing this match and being out of competition for months. I feel very sad about this. I never thought about the calendar Slam. This is the decision I have to make.”

The Spaniard added: “I had some issues with the abdominal during the week. I was more or less able to control it. It was obvious after the match that the small thing increased. It will be 3-4 weeks for this kind of injury.”

The decision means Australian Kyrgios advances to his maiden Grand Slam singles final and is the lowest ranked player to reach the men’s final at Wimbledon since Mark Philippoussis in 2003.

Kyrgios’ previous best Grand Slam results were a couple of quarter-final appearances and he will face either defending champion Novak Djokovic or British No 1 Cameron Norrie in the final.

Nadal, meanwhile, remains unbeaten in Grand Slams this year as he is 19-0 having also won the Australian Open and French Open.

Nick Kyrgios Rafael Nadal

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