Tennis, Arnaldi and retirements in the Slam semifinals, the precedents of Nadal and Krajicek

A forfeit in a Slam semifinal is a very rare event. In the Open era, before Matteo Arnaldi’s surrender against Flavio Cobolli at Roland Garros due to the virus, it had only happened two other times. After all, to grant a “walkover” at this point in a Slam tournament, with the serious possibility of reaching the final, the reasons must be very, very valid.

Nadal in pieces

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The most recent case was Nick Kyrgios against Rafael Nadal. The two, not exactly best friends, were ready to challenge each other in the semi-final of Wimbledon 2022. The Australian arrived at the match in great spirits, while Rafa, fresh from his 22nd slam at Roland Garros, seemed bruised from the start of the tournament. In the quarterfinals Nadal faced Fritz, managing to win despite the pain in his abdomen. A problem that however worsened over the days, so much so that it forced him to raise the white flag and give the green light to Kyrgios, who played (and lost) his first and only Slam final, against Novak Djokovic.

The Australian case

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Another walkover in the semifinals of a slam was the one in 1992 between Richard Krajicek and Jim Courier. The Dutchman, one of the most elegant yet powerful players on the circuit at the time, was forced to give the green light to “Big Jim” due to a shoulder problem that prevented him from taking the field. Courier then won his first Australian Open (second Slam in total) beating Stefan Edberg in the final and thus becoming the tenth world number one in the history of the ATP rankings.