Rafael Nadal on Thursday pulled out of this year’s Wimbledon men’s singles semi-final match against Australi’s Nick Kyrgios due to abdominal injuries. This means that Kyrgios will now play the final either against Novak Djokovic or Britain’s Cameron Norrie in Sunday’s final.
Nadal had struggled in his quarter-final match against America’s Taylor Fritz and had to leave the court to receive medical treatment. The number-two seed Spaniard, however, had continued to play and ended up winning the match in a five-set thriller.
Speaking at a press conference, 22-time Grand Slam winner said, ”
“I have tried a lot of times in my career to keep going but it is obvious the injury will get worse.”
36-year-old all-time tennis great added, “Throughout the whole day I have been thinking about the decision to make.”
Nadal said that it did not make sense to play with such injuries and he was ‘very sad’ to break this news.
Nadal said that he saw his career differently two weeks ago due to a foot injury after he won the French Open title.
He told reporters, “I can’t imagine myself winning two matches and for respect to myself in some way I don’t want to go out and not be competitive enough.
“A couple of weeks ago I saw my career very different because of the foot injury.
“The most important thing is happiness more than any titles. I can’t risk that match and stay two or three months out of the competition.
“I am very sad and it is a very tough one.”
In another development, Tunisian third seed Ons Jabeur became the first Arab player to reach a Grand Slam singles final after she defeated her friend Tatjana Maria 6-2 3-6 6-1. Jabeur will face Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the women’s singles final. Rybakina demolished Simona Halep 6-3 6-3 in another semi-final.