Wimbledon out for Rafael Nadal! The record Grand Slam champion has to cancel the semifinals against Nick Kyrgios because of an abdominal muscle injury. The Australian moves into the final without a fight.
“As everyone saw yesterday, I’m suffering from pain in my stomach area. I have a tear in my muscle,” Nadal said at a press conference on Thursday evening.
Nadal had already been in pain in the quarter-finals, but ultimately after more than 4:21 hours 3: 6, 7: 5, 3: 6, 7: 5, 7: 6 (10: 4) against the American Taylor Fritz prevailed. The 36-year-old Spaniard only held out with anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers
After the five-set drama, Nadal had already left open his participation in the semifinals. “There is something more important than winning Wimbledon, that is health. Let’s see how it develops,” he said after reaching the semifinals.
Nick Kyrgios is in the Wimbledon final for the first time. The controversial tennis professional meets the winner of the match between Novak Djokovic and Cameron Norrie in the final.
Kyrgios had already spit big tones before the match. “The game would make anyone’s mouth water in the world,” he said, adding: “It will probably be the most watched match of all time.”
Archrival accuses Nadal of acting
After reaching the semi-finals, Nadal was already confronted with serious allegations from Fabio Fognini. In an Instagram story, the 35-year-old posted a screenshot of an online article saying the Spaniard prevailed despite injury. Fognini underlined this part of the article and wrote: “Guys, please stop believing what you read!!!”
The screenshot quickly made the rounds on the internet. Hardly any user doubted that the Italian accused the Grand Slam record champion of acting with this sentence and is convinced that Nadal is actually not badly injured.