With an abdominal pain, unable to exercise his usual style of relentless tennis, Rafael Nadal worried because he would have to stop playing in the Wimbledon quarterfinals against Taylor Fritz.
In the stands on the center court, Santa waved his arms and motioned for the 22-time Grand Slam champion to leave. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the child did not listen. Nadal stayed out there, adjusted his service move and strategy, and found a way to win.
READ MORE: Luke Brooks downloads Tigers officials in a candid interview
READ MORE: McEnroe in shock as Kyrgios goes to the ground at Wimbledon
READ MORE: Unpopular tactical gifts, victory of Djokovic’s comeback
With much of the audience roaring and standing after the best Christmas hits, he twice erased the setbacks of a set against 11th seed Fritz and came out 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7 -5, 7-6 (10). -4) victory to reach their eighth semi-final at the All England Club.
Rafael Nadal of Spain talks to a member of his medical team during the break against Taylor Fritz of the United States during his men’s singles quarterfinal match on the tenth day of the 2022 Wimbledon Championship at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 6, 2022. in London, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill / Getty Images) (Getty)
“For a lot of moments,” Nadal said, “I’ve been thinking, ‘Maybe I won’t be able to finish the game.’
He reached his 38th major semifinal of his career denying what would have been a first appearance of its kind for Fritz, a 24-year-old American who defeated Nadal in the final in Indian Wells, California, in March. . This ended in a streak of 20 consecutive Christmas victories, which that day he was bothered by a painful rib injury.
Watch Wimbledon live and free on 9Now and all points of every match without ads, live and on demand at Stan Sport.
This time, the problem was a muscle in the stomach area, which had a bit of athletic tape, as was also the case with Monday’s fourth-round Christmas game, when he declined to talk about it.
Kyrgios to the Wimbledon semifinals
Nadal left the court with a coach for a medical timeout as he reached 4-3 in the second set; Fritz walked down the baseline waiting for the action to resume.
When he did, Nadal was clearly committed. It was hard not to think: could he surrender? Nadal acknowledged that it went through his head. Perhaps this was also the case with Fritz, because his level of play fell precipitously during stretches.
He practically delivered the second set of what would become a 4-hour, 21-minute contest under a sky of slate clouds. After Fritz reached the third set, his great service was broken three times the next.
A crazy winner prepares a break for Kyrgios
Nadal occasionally watched as he passed a ball from Fritz’s orange racket. Christmas could not move as usual. His characteristic growls of “Uhhhh!” they were rare.
It did not generate the usual zipper in its services, which went down from a maximum of 120 mph to almost 100 mph. He tried to end the exchanges with a quick hit shot or a shot, sometimes successfully, often not.
Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts against Taylor Fritz of the United States during his men’s singles quarterfinal match on the tenth day of the 2022 Wimbledon Championship at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 6, 2022 in London , England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill / Getty Images) (Getty)
“A tough afternoon. It’s not an easy match at all,” Nadal said. “In the abdomen, something is wrong.”
Still, he did his best for the latter, taking a 5-0 lead in the final tiebreaker: the first-to-10, two-win format starting with 6-all in a fifth set is new at Wimbledon this year, and then five of the last six points. In this way, Nadal extended his unbeaten record in the 2022 Grand Slam matches to 19-0 while looking to add a trophy at Wimbledon to his victories at the Australian Open in January, and then at the Opened in France in June. For all he has achieved, the 36-year-old Spaniard has never won the first three Slam titles of a season.
On Friday Christmas he will face Nick Kyrgios, the 27-year-old Australian who will make his Grand Slam semi-final debut after a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (5) win over Cristian Garin of Chile.
When asked to look ahead to face Kyrgios, Nadal began with this statement that sounded ominous: “I hope to be ready to play.”
The Spaniard admitted that it is unknown if he will be fit enough to play after suffering the “worst” day with his new abdominal injury.
He continued: “I have to be 100 per cent to keep having opportunities and that’s what I’m going to try to do.”
The other men’s semifinal will be No. 1 Novak Djokovic against No. 9 Cam Norrie.
The women’s semifinals will be 2019 champion Simona Halep against No. 17 Elena Rybakina, and No. 3 Ons Jabeur against non-seeded Tatjana Maria.
Halep advanced by eliminating U.S. No. 20 Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-4, and Rybakina returned to defeat Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
For a daily dose of the best breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!