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Rafael Nadal withdraws from Wimbledon semi-final
Nadal pulled out of the contest after suffering an abdominal tear during his marathon quarter-final win over Taylor Fritz
Rafael Nadal announced on Thursday evening he would not be able to play Friday’s semi-final against Nick Kyrgios because of injury. This has caused different reactions from sadness for Nadal himself to disappointment that Wimbledon fans will be denied a great showpiece semi-final.
Nadal’s withdrawal because of an abdominal tear means Kyrgios gets a free pass through to his first grand slam singles final, giving him an extra couple of days of recovery before he plays either the six-time champion Novak Djokovic or Britain’s Cameron Norrie for the title.
The late withdrawal left people wondering aloud on social media whether Taylor Fritz, who lost out to Nadal in a final-set tie-break in the quarter-finals, should be given a path through to the last four.
The current grand slam rules do not allow for Fritz to be put through in Nadal’s place once the tournament has completed the first round. A player who loses in qualifying (usually, but not always in the final round) can enter the main draw as a “lucky loser” when someone pulls out through injury or illness. But doing it again when the draw is beyond the first round means a player could theoretically win the title having lost twice, if they lost in qualifying and then again at some later stage.
“I can’t risk that much and stay two, three months outside of the competition because that’s going to be a tough thing for me.
“If that happens, it happens, not because I was not doing things the proper way.
“Very tough circumstances in that one I think it’s obvious if I keep going the injury is gonna get worse and worse. I made this decision because I can’t be competitive and win the next two matches.
“I can’t risk that much and stay two, three months outside of the competition because that’s going to be a tough thing for me.”
“Very tough circumstances in that one I think it’s obvious if I keep going the injury is gonna get worse and worse. I made this decision because I can’t be competitive and win the next two matches.” – Rafael Nadal continued.
“I don’t want to make things worse, but I am very sad.”
