“I have been suffering”: Rafael Nadal withdraws from Wimbledon
Rafael Nadal has officially withdrawn from Wimbledon ahead of his semi-final match against Nick Kyrgios due to an abdominal injury, prompting his Aussie competitor to sail straight into Sunday’s men’s final.
Nadal confirmed the news on Friday morning (AEST) after it was reported that he suffered a 7mm abdominal tear during his quarter-final win against Taylor Fritz.
“Unfortunately, as you can imagine, if I am here, I have to pull out from the tournament,” he said in a press conference.
“As everybody saw yesterday, I had been suffering with pain in the abdominal. I was not OK there, as yesterday I said. That’s confirmed. I have a tear in the muscle in the abdominal.
“I was thinking during the whole day about the decision to make. It doesn’t make sense to go (on), even if I try through my career to keep going.
“It was very tough circumstances but it is obvious if I keep going the injury will be worse and worse.
“That’s the thing I can say now and feel very sad to say that.”
We're sad to see it end this way, @RafaelNadal
Thank you for another year of unforgettable moments at The Championships#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/XadiEVxaWF
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2022
The 36-year-old estimated it would take “three, four weeks” to recover from the injury, though a timeline for his return to competing is unclear according to multiple reports.
Though he reiterated that he will continue playing, Nadal said his injury prevented him from playing at his best.
“I made the decision because I believe that I can’t win two matches under the circumstances,” he said. “It is not only that I can't serve at the right speed, it is that I can't do the normal movement to serve.
“After I say that, to imagine myself winning two matches, and for respect to myself in some way, I don’t want to go out there and not be competitive enough to play at the level I need to play to achieve my goals.”
Nadal’s withdrawal has dashed his chances of winning his 23rd grand slam title at this year’s competition, which would have made him tie with Serena Williams on the all-time list for having the most major singles trophies.
In response to his opponent’s announcement, Kyrgios took to Instagram to wish Nadal well on his recovery.
“Different players, different personalities @rafaelnadal I hope your recovery goes well and we all hope to see you healthy soon. Till next time,” the Canberran captioned a throwback photo of the pair shaking hands at the net.
Kyrgios, who has become the first Australian man to make the Wimbledon singles final since Mark Philippoussis in 2003, will face Novak Djokovic or Cameron Norrie, who are due to play the other semi-final match on Friday.
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