“I have an abdominal tear. I spent the whole day thinking about the decision to make, but it makes no sense to play if I want to continue my career. The Spaniard Rafael Nadal, injured in the abdominals, will not play the semi-final of Wimbledon, this Friday, July 8, against the Australian Nick Kyrgios. The player with 22 Grand Slam titles announced his withdrawal on Thursday July 7 during a press conference at the All England Club. “I made this decision because I can’t win two more games. Out of respect for myself, I don’t want to play without being competitive at the level I want and at the same time aggravate my injury,” he added.
“I had abdominal issues for a week, but I was able to control it. Yesterday [Wednesday] it became very painful. The tiny little injury I had a few days earlier had gotten worse,” he admitted.
Seven millimeter abdominal tear
Winner of the first two Majors of the year (Australian Open and Roland-Garros), he suffered from an abdominal tear of seven millimeters in length, reported Thursday, the Spanish daily Marca.
He almost gave up in the quarter-finals on Wednesday against Taylor Fritz, but does not regret having gone to the end of his match. “The decision was good because I finished the match and, on top of that, I won. I’m not the kind of person who looks back after making a decision. You learn from your mistakes, I try not to repeat them, but I didn’t want to give up and leave the court in the middle of a match,” he explained.
He estimates that he won’t be cured for “three or four weeks”, which shouldn’t change his tournament plans. Rafael Nadal thus leaves Nick Kyrgios access without playing his first Grand Slam final. He will be opposed to the triple title holder Novak Djokovic or the Briton Cameron Norrie.