Nine wins away from becoming only the third man ever to complete a calendar-year grand slam, Rafael Nadal instead made history of a more unwanted kind after he was forced to withdraw from his Wimbledon semi-final against Nick Kyrgios with an abdominal tear.
Nadal, who struggled with pain caused by the problem during his five-set victory over Taylor Fritz, underwent a scan on Thursday morning that revealed a 7mm tear, according to reports in the Spanish press. He failed to show up for a scheduled lunchtime practice session on an outside court, instead hitting for 45 minutes on a back court at Aorangi Park, away from the public gaze.
Nadal was able to rally from the baseline, but struggled to serve with his customary power and spin despite adjusting his motion. Following an on-court discussion with his team, he returned to the locker room before announcing his withdrawal at a press conference shortly after 7pm. The Spaniard becomes the first man to pull out of the tournament at such an advanced stage since 1931, when Frank Shields handed his American compatriot Sidney Wood a walkover in the final after suffering a knee injury.
“Unfortunately, I have to pull out from the tournament,” said Nadal. “I have a tear in the muscle in the abdominal. The communication is too late because, even like that, I was thinking during the whole day about the decision to make, but I think it doesn’t make sense to go [on].
“Even if I tried a lot of times during my career to keep going under very tough circumstances, in this one I think it’s obvious that if I keep going, the injury is going to be worse and worse, that’s the thing. I feel very sad to say that.”
Nadal’s progress to the semi-finals extended his winning streak at grand slams this season to 19 straight matches, following his victories at the Australian Open and Roland Garros. Yet his success has been achieved against a backdrop of constant physical concerns.
Nadal played in Melbourne following a protracted layoff with a chronic foot injury. In March, he suffered a stress fracture of the rib in Indian Wells. The 36-year-old returned shortly before the French Open, where his successful bid for a record-extending 22nd major title was only made possible by multiple anaesthetic injections. Nadal underwent treatment to quell the pain following the victory, and had been pleased with his trajectory at Wimbledon. Now he has another problem to contend with.
“I made my decision because I believe that I can’t win two matches under these circumstances,” said Nadal. “I can’t serve. 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. I [can’t] imagine myself wining two matches.
“For respect to myself in some way, I don’t want to go out there and not be competitive enough to play at the level that I need to play to achieve my goal, and with a big chance to make the injury much worse.
“As I always said, for me the most important thing is happiness, more than any title, even if everybody knows how much effort I put to be here. I can’t risk that match and stay two to three months outside of competition, because that’s going to be a tough thing for me. If that happens, it happens, but not because I was not doing things the proper way. That’s my decision and I have to live with that.”
Nadal said the injury would keep him out for three to four weeks, meaning he should be fit to compete at the US Open, which begins in New York on 29 August. His withdrawal means Kyrgios will contest his first grand slam final on Sunday against either defending champion Novak Djokovic or Britain’s Cameron Norrie, who play on Friday.