Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from his Wimbledon semi-final against Nick Kyrgios with a suspected abdominal injury. The 36-year-old had been in pain even during his quarter-final game against Taylor Fritz but finished the game after a first aid treatment was administered.
Reports from Spanish media said the Australian Open champion had undergone seven millimetres of tears to his abnormal muscles.
The Spanish dream to complete the calendar year Glam slam has dwindled. He would have been the first to do so after Rod Laver in 1969.
In a press conference the Spaniard said:
“Unfortunately, as you can imagine I am here because I have to pull out of the tournament.
“As everyone saw yesterday, I have been suffering from pain in the abdominal area and something was not OK there. That is confirmed, I have a tear in the muscle and the communication is too late.
“I was thinking the whole day about the decision to make, but I think it doesn’t make sense to go, even if I try throughout my career to keep going. It is a very tough circumstance, but it is obvious that if I keep going, the injury will get worse and worse.”
“I never thought about the calendar slam, I thought about my diary and my happiness,” Nadal said.
“I decide because I don’t believe I can win two matches under the circumstances. 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 that to imagine myself winning two matches, and for respect for 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.”
