22-time Grand Slam tournament winner Rafael Nadal hopes to start tennis training again in a week despite his painful abdominal muscle injury.
“Playing from the baseline shouldn’t be a big deal,” said the 36-year-old Spaniard after missing out on the Wimbledon semifinals. He certainly couldn’t pitch for a while. “The positive thing is that I can train further from the baseline. That will help me keep to my tournament schedule the way I want to.”
Nadal reported on Thursday evening that he had torn an abdominal muscle. The withdrawal leaves 27-year-old Australian Nick Kyrgios in the first Grand Slam final of his career without a fight.
Nadal wants to play US Open
Nadal expects a tournament break of around three to four weeks. That would see him return in time for the US Open, which begins in New York at the end of August.
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. Despite the injury, it wasn’t a mistake to end the match, he said. “I’m not the type of player and the kind of person to look back after decisions and say, ‘I shouldn’t have done that.’
With the Spaniard’s withdrawal, the chance of a dream final against defending champion Novak Djokovic and the first Grand Slam in men’s tennis in 53 years 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.