Rafael Nadal pulls out of Wimbledon with abdomen injury, Nick Kyrgios gets walkover into final

Rafael Nadal withdrew from Wimbledon on Thursday ahead of his semi-final with Nick Kyrgios. The 22-time Grand Slam champion made the decision after failing to recover from an abdominal injury. It ended Nadal’s quest to win the calendar Slam.

As a result, unseeded Kyrgios receives a walkover into the final where he will face the winner of six-time champion Novak Djokovic and Britain’s Cameron Norrie.

Nadal was visibly in pain during in a gruelling five-set win against American Taylor Fritz on Wednesday.

Spanish sports daily Marca reported Nadal had a seven millimeter tear in his abdomen . But it claimed Nadal wanted to play regardless.

But the 36-year-old scheduled a press conference in the evening at the All England Club where he confirmed he was withdrawing.

“Unfortunately as you can imagine I am here because I have to pull out from the tournament,” said the two-time Wimbledon champion.

“As everyone saw yesterday I have been suffering with a pain in the abdominal and something was not OK there. That is confirmed, I have a tear in the muscle.”

“It doesn’t make sense to go (on), even if I try through my career to keep going. It is very tough circumstances but it is obvious if I keep going the injury will be worse and worse.”

Unseeded @NickKyrgios reaches 1st Grand Slam final with walkover from Rafael Nadal at @Wimbledon.

Kyrgios vs Nadal is 2nd W/O in Grand Slam men's SF or final during Open Era (Courier vs Krajicek 1992 @AustralianOpen SF).

Last W/O in #Wimbledon men's SF or final was 1931 final.

— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) July 7, 2022

Nadal was given pain relief during the contest against Fritz and needed a medical time-out in the second set, admitting his father and sister had strongly urged for him to quit.

The two-time Wimbledon champion had said he’d been experiencing pain for almost a week and that it intensified during the match.

Nadal practiced ahead of the semi-final but wasn’t at his supreme best. He tried to put less pressure on his serve and there wasn’t the usual topspin and control as a result.

Nadal had triumphed at the Australian Open and French Open and had been hoping to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to complete the calendar slam.

“I never thought about the calendar Slam, I thought about my diary [schedule> and my happiness.”

“I make the decision because I don’t believe I can win two matches under the circumstances. It is not only I can’t serve at the right speed, it is I can’t do the normal movement to serve.”

“After that to imagine myself winning two matches, and for respect for myself in some way, I don’t want to go out there and not be competitive enough to play at the level I need to play to achieve my goals.”

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