“I was thinking during the whole day about the decision to make, but I think it’s, yeah,” Nadal said during a press conference Thursday. “It don’t make sense to go, even if I tried a lot of times in my career to keep going. It’s obvious if I keep going the injury is going to be worse and worse.”
Nadal said the abdominal issue had been bothering him for a week but really began to affect his play Wednesday, when “it increased to a bigger thing,” he said Thursday.
This news comes just hours after Nadal was seen practicing Thursday. According to multiple reports including BBC Sport, the 36-year-old has a seven-millimeter tear in his abdominals that was discovered during a scan earlier Thursday.
“I am in this position because I believe I can’t win two matches under these circumstances,” Nadal said. “It’s not only that I can’t serve at the right speed, it’s that I can't do the normal movement to serve.”
Because of the Spaniard’s withdrawal, Kyrgios will receive a walkover into Sunday’s final. This will be his first career Grand Slam final appearance. The Australian will face the winner of Friday’s semifinal match between Novak Djokovic and Cameron Norrie.
Nadal has also been dealing with a chronic left foot injury this year, which caused him to miss various tournaments this year. It’s unclear if and when the tennis legend plans to return to the court this year. Right now, he’s predicting that it will take around three or four weeks for him to be in a better position with this injury.
Nadal won the first two Grand Slam titles of the year so far, making history at the Australian Open by capturing the most Grand Slam titles in men’s tennis history. He also won his 14th French Open title at the beginning of June.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion will lose his chance at a calendar Grand Slam. Only five tennis players in history have achieved this feat.
Rafael Nadal practiced through his abdominal injury Thursday ahead of what would have been his Wimbledon semifinals match against Nick Kyrgios.
But despite this practice session, Nadal reportedly will not compete for the remainder of the tournament, withdrawing later on Thursday, he confirmed during his press conference. Kyrgios will walkover into the final as a result.
According to multiple reports including BBC Sport, the legendary tennis player has a seven-millimeter tear in his abdominals that was discovered during a scan earlier Thursday. Spanish newspaper Marca also reported the news.
Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim reported the Spaniard’s practice session lasted around 44 minutes as he hit balls with Marc Lopez for 33 minutes. Nadal also reportedly practiced serves.
The Spaniard is coming off a four-hour, five-set match against Taylor Fritz that ended in a tiebreak, going 3–6, 7–5, 3–6, 7–5, 7–6 (4). The 36-year-old did have to take a medical timeout due to the abdominal issue, but he outlasted the 24-year-old.
Nadal last won Wimbledon in 2010, but he’s on a hot Grand Slam streak right now, though this withdrawal takes him out of the running for a calendar year Grand Slam. His ’22 record is 19–0, the second-longest streak in his major career, and he won this year’s Australian Open and French Open.
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