It was a small bomb that shook Wimbledon on Thursday: at the end of the day of training, world No.5 Rafael Nadal withdrew from his semi-final against Nick Kyrgios on Friday. The Mallorcan, injured in the abdominal belt, is too weak to continue the tournament. “I have an abdominal tear. We discussed all day about the decision to take, but it makes no sense to play if I want to continue my career, “said the Spaniard in a press conference.
“If I play, the injury will get worse and worse,” he added. “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 insisted. He estimates that he will not be cured for “3 or 4 weeks”, which should not change his plans in terms of tournaments.
The player with 22 Grand Slam titles had already almost given up in the quarter-finals. This is the 5th time that the Spaniard has abandoned a Grand Slam tournament: he had abandoned in the middle of a match at the Australian Open in 2010 and 2018, at the US Open in 2018, and withdrew before the match in Australia in 2010 and at Roland-Garros in 2016.