On Thursday, Spain’s 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal pulled out of his scheduled Wimbledon semifinal match against Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, citing an abdominal muscle tear.
The news comes a day after Nadal won an epic four-hour, five-set quarterfinal against American Taylor Fritz. The world No. 4 was in visible pain throughout the match, wincing and gripping his stomach. At one point, family members were seen urging the 36-year-old to withdraw from the match at risk of further injury.
“As everybody saw yesterday, I have been suffering with the pain in abdominal and also, I think, was not OK yesterday,” Nadal said in a press conference on Thursday. "I was thinking during the whole day about the position to make. I think it don't make sense to go."
Saying that continuing would "ruin my career," he added: "It's obvious if I keep going, the injury going to be worse and worse."
Prior to withdrawing, the Spaniard – who claimed the Wimbledon men’s singles title in 2008 and 2010, and was the No. 2 seed this year – maintained a 19-0 streak at 2022 Grand Slam tournaments. He won the Australian Open for the second time in his career in January, and Roland Garros for the 14th time in June.
As a result of his withdrawal, the 27-year-old Kyrgios will automatically advance to the final. The Australian will face either No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia or No. 9 seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain. Djokovic and Norrie will play one another in their semifinal match on Friday.
It is unclear at present time if Nadal will compete in the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the year, New York’s US Open, which begins in late August. The Spaniard has won that title four times, in 2010, 2013, 2017, and 2019.
