An injured Rafael Nadal held a press conference ahead of his highly anticipated Wimbledon 2022 clash with Nick Kyrgios, and the Spaniard confirmed what fans were fearing. Nadal announced that he will have to pull out of the semifinal clash, after suffering a tear in his abdomen muscle, he revealed.
Thus, Kyrgios became the first Australian to reach the men’s singles final at the All England Club since Mark Philippoussis in 2003.
Earlier this year, Nadal had won the Australian and French Open back-to-back for the first time in his career and had been hoping to finish with a rare calendar-year Grand Slam but all his hopes were dashed after an injury layoff.
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The last man to complete the calendar-year slam was Rod Laver in 1969 and despite his best wishes, Nadal has been ruled out through injury.
“Unfortunately, I have to pull out from the tournament,” the dejected Spaniard told reporters at a hastily arranged news conference, less than 24 hours before his semi-final.
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
“As everybody saw yesterday (in the quarter-final), I have been suffering with abdominal pain. I knew something was not okay there. Yeah, that`s confirmed. I have a tear in the muscle in the abdomen,” he added.
Rafael Nadal continued, “I was thinking during the whole day about the decision to make.”
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Thus, the unseeded Kyrgios will take on either top seed Novak Djokovic, who is bidding for a fourth straight and seventh overall title on the manicured lawns of Wimbledon, or local hope Cameron Norrie in Sunday`s final. Their semi-final is scheduled for Friday.
Earlier, Nadal’s father and sister urged him to retire mid-match against American Taylor Fritz during Wednesday’s match on Centre Court but Nadal ignored the pleas from his box and pulled off a remarkable win in four hours and 20 minutes.
With inputs from Reuters
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