Tennis shock at Wimbledon
Nadal gives injured Forfit – Kyrgios in the final!
This is really bitter. The tennis world will not enjoy Friday’s crushing semi-final match between Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios.
Publication date: 8:27 pm
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Updated: 10:11 PM
The first player to reach the Wimbledon final was known on Thursday night: Nick Kyrgios (27, ATP 40), the moody Australian. Semi-finalist Rafael Nadal (36, ATP 4) cannot compete in Friday’s Grand Duel due to his abdominal muscle injury. Mallorquin gives the lead. What a bitterness.
Nadal: “I’ve been thinking about this decision all day. But I don’t think there is any point in continuing.” Then he continues: “I am very sad. But if the infection persists, it may get worse. I can’t do the normal serve and I can’t play on the grass.”
Problems with his abdominals (according to Marca he reportedly suffered a seven millimeter tear) made Nadal difficult in the quarter-final against American Taylor Fritz (24, ATP 14). The 36-year-old worked his way up and won five sets. It seemed that he could no longer afford another special effort.
The Spaniard suffers from Fritz: Is Papa Nadal implying here that his son should give up?(00:11)
“I have to respect myself”
Rafa explains: “I have to respect myself, I don’t want to play if I can’t be 100% competitive to win the championship. Also, at this point in my career it’s very dangerous to pay anything. I can’t risk that much and then I’ll stay in Outside for two or three months. I don’t really think about the major slams (winning all the Grand Slams in the same year, editor’s note). Right now I’m playing to be happy and to win as much as possible, nothing more.”
Nadal won the inaugural Australian and French Championships in 2022 and now has 22 Grand Slam titles (a record).
Now there is only one semi-final match on Friday on Central Court between Serbian Novak Djokovic (35, ATP 3) and Britain’s Cameron Norrie (26, ATP 12). They make up who should face first finalist Kyrgios on Sunday. (Yap / West)
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