Nadal Withdraws From Wimbledon, Ending Grand Slam Run and Putting Kyrgios in His First Final

Rafael Nadal was forced to withdraw from the Wimbledon semi-finals on Thursday due to an abdominal tear he suffered during his quarterfinal match against American Taylor Fritz.

Nadal’s announcement may not have come as a huge surprise to those who watched him labor through the latter parts of his 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10-4) marathon win over Fritz, but the news is a shock nonetheless.

Nadal’s withdrawal ends a historic run, both as the 36-year-old Spaniard was seeking to add yet another grand slam to his record-setting collection of 22 titles and he was on course to win a calendar grand slam, having already won in both Australia and Paris this year.

Wishing you a speedy recovery, Rafa.

Rafael Nadal’s #Wimbledon 2022 is over 💔#BBCTennis pic.twitter.com/avbctHecnA

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 7, 2022

Additionally, Nadal’s withdrawal advances controversial tennis player Nick Kyrgios to his first grand slam final, where he will play either Novak Djokovic or Cam Norrie.

Kyrgios noted that after his quarter-final win, “I just never thought I’d be in a semi-final of a Grand Slam. I honestly thought my ship had sailed.”

“I didn’t go about things great earlier in my career, I may have wasted that little window. Just really proud of the way I have come out here,” he added, noting the antics and on-court meltdowns that had marred most of his career up until this point.

While always considered one of the most talented players on the ATP tour, Kyrgios is currently ranked 40th in the world and has reached a career-high of 13th.

Having won almost ten million dollars in his career and six titles, his appearance in the final of Wimbledon at age 27 is by far the highlight of his career. Kyrgios will not gain any ranking points for his stellar run as the ATP stripped the tournament of points due to its ban of Russian players.

The tournament, however, has not been all positive news for the Australian as news broke that he is facing assault allegations from a former girlfriend.

“Obviously, I have a lot of thoughts, a lot of things I want to say, kind of my side about it,” he told reporters after saying it has been “hard” for him to concentrate solely on tennis.

“Obviously, I’ve been advised by my lawyers that I’m unable to say anything at this time,” he added.