Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from Wimbledon due to an abdominal injury and will not play in Friday’s semifinals match against Nick Kyrgios.
Kyrgios will advance to the finals in a walkover. He will face either top-seeded Novak Djokovic or ninth-seeded Cameron Norrie of Great Britain.
Nadal has a 7-millimeter abdominal tear, Spanish newspaper Marca reported earlier Thursday. The tear was revealed in tests that Nadal underwent Thursday morning, per the report.
Nadal put in a light practice for 45 minutes beginning at 1:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, per The Times. He informed the All England Club later Thursday that he was not fit to play Friday.
“Good evening. I have to pull out of the tournament,” Nadal said. “As everybody saw yesterday I have been suffering with the pain in the abdominal (area). That’s confirmed. I have a tear in the muscle.”
Though Nadal was able to hit his forehand and backhand just fine, he could not serve with full power, per The Times. His adjustments to take pressure off his abdomen resulted in serves with less spin that traveled long consistently, per The Times.
Nadal required treatment during Wednesday’s marathon quarterfinal win over Taylor Fritz. The No. 2 seed finished off a 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) victory in four hours and 20 minutes.
“I am used to holding pain and playing with problems,” Nadal told reporters after the quarterfinals. “Knowing that, when I feel something like I felt, something is not going the proper way in my abdomen. I had these feelings for a couple of days. Without a doubt, today was the worst day. There has been an important increase of pain and limitation.”
Nadal has dealt with this injury before. He had a 2-centimeter abdominal tear ahead of his 2009 U.S. Open semifinal against Juan Martin del Potro. He played the match but lost.
Nadal, 36, has won a record 22 Grand Slam men’s singles titles, including the first two this season at the Australian Open and French Open. He won his second and most recent Wimbledon title in 2010.
–Field Level Media
