Earlier on Thursday, it was reported that Rafael Nadal suffered a “seven millimeter” tear in his stomach during his Wimbledon quarterfinal against Taylor Fritz, but still intended to play a semi-final against Nick Kyrgios.
Earlier on Thursday, it was reported that Rafael Nadal suffered a “seven millimeter” tear in his stomach during his Wimbledon quarterfinal against Taylor Fritz, but still intended to play a semi-final against Nick Kyrgios.
Rafael Nadal announced on Thursday that he is withdrawing from Wimbledon after failing to recover from a stomach injury that has ruined his calendar Grand Slam hopes.
Semi-final rival Nick Kyrgios will get a walkover in Sunday’s final, where he will play either top seed and six-time champion Novak Djokovic or Britain’s Cameron Norie.
Nadal, 22-time Grand Slam Champion 11th seeded American Taylor struggled with injury in a gruesome five-set win over Fritz on Wednesday.
Spanish sports daily Marca reported on Thursday that Nadal has a “seven millimeter” tear in his stomach, but he still wanted to play.
But the 36-year-old scheduled a press conference in which he confirmed he was withdrawing.
He said, “I have to withdraw from the tournament. As everyone saw yesterday, I am suffering from pain in the abdominal area.”
“I have tears in my muscles.”
Second seed Nadal appeared to be in pain during his match with Fritz and was forced to take a medical time-out in the second set.
But he returned to the court and recovered from set down twice to win 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7/6 (10/4) in four hours and 21 minutes.