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WIMBLEDON, England – Rafael Nadal retired from Wimbledon with his abdominal injury on Thursday evening, on the eve of a long-awaited semi-final against Nick Kyrgios. He announced the decision at an unexpected press conference on Wimbledon night. He ended the chances of Nadal, the reigning Australian Open and French Open champion, becoming the first player since Steffi Graf in 1988 to win all four Grand Slam titles in a natural year.
He had considered retiring from his quarterfinal match against Californian Taylor Fritz on Wednesday and said his father and sister had made a gesture to him from the audience during the second set that was to stop. When he won that epic 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10-4), he added to his accumulated legend over the past few years: his ability to play tennis of elite by injury. .
After that match, he said he would have tests on Thursday, and that he was worried about being able to play against Kyrgios in the first Grand Slam semifinal of this one, and that he saw little chance of treatment. He had left court on Wednesday to receive anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs, he said. He still managed to elevate his form to where Fritz saw his mobility almost at his usual height, better than most any other player, and where Fritz said, “He was absolutely throwing the ball into the corners, and he was running and ripping them back for the winners, so … “
Nadal won the French Open this year despite a foot injury that required considerable treatment and he was sometimes not convinced he could finish the tournament.
A clue to his thinking for this situation could have appeared at the 2021 Australian Open, when he recalled an occasion from a long career that began in 2003.
“It depends on what kind of injury you have,” he said at the time. “You have something broken, I think you have a tension or abdomen, for example, I did it in the past, and you make mistakes because it’s impossible to know exactly what happens when you’re competing. For example, I remember the States Open United 2009 I started the U.S. Open with a stump, I think, here in my abdomen.I started with about six millimeters of tension and I finished the tournament, I lost in the semifinals against (Juan Martin) del Potro and I finished the tournament with 26 millimeters. Of course, it wasn’t a smart decision. “