Nadal had already been treated for the injury and received anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers in his five-set win in the quarterfinals against American Taylor Fritz. With the withdrawal, the chance for the dream final against Djokovic and the first Grand Slam in men’s tennis for more than half a decade is over. Only two wins in Wimbledon and a triumph at the US Open were missing to win all four major titles of the year like Rod Laver did in 1969.
“The most important thing for me is luck, not titles, even if everyone knows what I did to get here. I can’t risk being completely out for two or three months,” said Nadal. “The dream of Wimbledon is over for Rafa Nadal,” headlined “As”.
Chronic pain in left foot
Before the start of the tournament, the Spaniard reported that the chronic pain in his left foot had been relieved with a special therapy. In Barcelona, Nadal had undergone pulsed radiofrequency therapy. The affected foot nerves are numbed with this treatment and can no longer transmit the pain stimulus to the brain. Nadal has been suffering from Müller-Weiss Syndrome, a rare and degenerative disease, for several years.
With Nadal’s waiver, tennis fans are missing out on a much-anticipated semi-final. In his usual cocky way, Kyrgios had announced the third Wimbledon duel between the two very different stars with pithy words. “The game would make anyone’s mouth water in the world,” enthused the Australian. “This will probably be the most watched match of all time.”
Three days break for Kyrgios
Now Kyrgios has three days off to prepare for his first Grand Slam final. After the quarrelsome Australian with the bad-boy image had caused a stir again in Wimbledon with wild abuse of referees, he showed unusually concentrated performances in the round of 16 and quarter-finals.
For minutes after the smooth three-set win against Chilean Cristian Garin, Kyrgios sat on his chair and looked into nothing. “There was a point where I was almost done with the sport,” he recalled at that moment of dark times. “I wrote this year about my mental state in 2019 at the Australian Open with self-harm and thoughts of suicide.” On the advice of his lawyers, he did not comment on the fact that he had a court date in Australia at the beginning of August.