Rafael Nadal’s chance at a calendar Grand Slam is still alive.
Nadal, who won the Australian Open and French Open earlier this year, battled through an abdominal injury in the Wimbeldon quarterfinals Wednesday to outlast American Taylor Fritz, 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10-4). Nadal advances to a semifinal match against 27-year-old Nick Kyrgios.
The 36-year-old left the court in the middle of the second set to get treatment. He was clearly laboring with his movement and service velocity throughout the match. The injury has been nagging him in recent days.
“For a lot of moments,” Nadal said, “I was thinking, ‘Maybe I will not be able to finish the match.’”
He did complete it, but said he couldn’t be sure whether he will be able to play Friday against Kyrgios, a 27-year-old Australian who earned his Grand Slam semifinal debut with a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over Cristian Garin of Chile.
“I don’t know exactly what I have. It’s clear something’s not right,” said Nadal, who will get tests Thursday for an issue that first cropped up nearly a week ago but got much worse at 3-1 in the first set against Fritz. “I’m obviously worried.”
Nadal summoned his best for last, grabbing a 5-0 lead in the closing tiebreaker — the first-to-10, win-by-two format starting at 6-all in a fifth set is new to Wimbledon this year — and then five of the last six points.
Fritz’s take on the tiebreaker? “Got destroyed,” he said.
“Probably hurts more than any loss I’ve ever had,” the 24-year-old American Fritz said. “After the match was over, I was sitting there and I felt like crying.”
The other men’s semifinal is Novak Djokovic against Cam Norrie.
— with AP
