The abdominal injury forces the Spaniard to withdraw before playing his semifinal match against Nick Kyrgios
Bad luck struck again with Rafa Nadal who, when he seemed to have the foot problem under control, found himself with an abdominal rupture that has expelled him from the Wimbledon tournament and will not allow him to play the long-awaited semifinal against the Australian Nick Kyrgios.
“I have a tear in my abdomen,” said the Spaniard at a press conference called urgently at the All England Club. “I have a muscle tear. I have a significant risk of making it worse. I’ve spent all day and almost all night yesterday thinking about the situation. I’ve finally come to the conclusion that here I’m only worth winning, the rest doesn’t do me much good. It’s practically impossible to think of winning two matches at this level with a torn abdominal. There’s no point in trying. If I continue the injury will be worse », he added.
The press conference took place several hours after the Spaniard’s first appearance for Wimbledon, around noon, to test himself, to see what his condition was after injuring his abdominal after four games against Taylor Fritz and still managed to win the match. in four and a half hours of pure epic. One hour he was on a track to which practically no one had access and in which he was supervised by his doctor, Dr. Ángel Ruiz Cotorro. He tried the service, but, as an Australian television captured, with gestures of pain.
After hours of deliberation and consultation with his team, he decided to return to the All England Club in the late afternoon and call a press conference confirming his withdrawal. “Out of respect for myself, I don’t want to go out there without being able to be competitive at the level I have to be to achieve my goal,” he said.
“People think that when I play doing certain things… that it’s because of ambition. But no, it’s because I do what I feel. I do it with the conviction that I am doing the right thing, without putting my health at risk. As I have played so many times under very difficult circumstances and have achieved success at times, there is always hope that this could be one of them, ”he added. But it was not and the withdrawal is hard, not only because Nadal has not won Wimbledon for twelve years, but because when the foot was already in the background, another physical problem appeared to hit his physique.
«Now the foot is a little better, which was the most worrying thing to be able to continue with my career… The foot is more controlled and it is allowing me to enjoy being able to play tennis again. I can’t risk an injury that could take me a long time without playing. I always try to prioritize my personal happiness over any title or success,” he explained.
low period
He confirmed that the period of loss could be three or four weeks and that, if all goes well, in a week he could be training from the baseline. The objective is to get in tune for the Montreal Masters 1,000, which takes place from August 5 to 14, and which would serve as preparation for playing the US Open, which, curiously, he will arrive undefeated in the Grand Slams, with 19 wins. and zero defeats, something Novak Djokovic has only achieved in the Open Era, when he did it last season.
“I hope that this problem does not disrupt my calendar,” said Nadal, who has only dropped out of two Grand Slams in his career once the tournament began. The first time was at Roland Garros 2016, when before the third round he withdrew due to a wrist injury. Now this Wimbledon 2022 is added.
With his withdrawal, Nick Kyrgios will play his first Grand Slam final at the age of 27. The one from Canberra, in the best two weeks of his life, will have the opportunity to give his career a big boost this Sunday, when he faces Briton Cameron Norrie or Djokovic in the fight for the title, who is one title away from achieving the ‘major’ number 21.
