By John Essien
Rafael Nadal will play no part in the upcoming Wimbledon semi-final with Nick Kyrgios due to an abdominal injury.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion was in visible discomfort during his five-set quarter-final win over Taylor Fritz of the USA.
A scan showed a seven millimetre tear and, while he trained on Thursday afternoon at Aorangi Park, he made the decision to pull out on the eve of the match.
Announcing his withdrawal, Nadal, who had been bidding for the clean sweep of Grand Slams in 2022, said: “I have to pull out of the tournament. As everybody saw yesterday I have been suffering with the pain in the abdominal [area]. That’s confirmed.
“Unfortunately I am here because I have to pull out from the tournament, no?” The Express quotes Nadal as saying during his press conference. “I was thinking the whole day about the decision to make but I think it doesn’t make sense to go [on court].
“Even if I tried a lot in my career to keep going in very tough circumstances. I think it’s obvious if I keep going the injury is gonna get worse and worse and that’s the thing that I can say now.
“It’s not only that I can’t serve at the right speed it’s that I can’t do the normal moment to serve. 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.”
