WIMBLEDON, England — Rafael Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam champion, has pulled out of his semifinal match against Nick Kyrgios set for Friday.
Nadal made the announcement Thursday in the main media conference room at the All England Club.
“I believe I can’t win two matches under these circumstances,” he said. “I can’t serve.”
Nadal, who entered the tournament with concerns about his chronically injured foot, tore a muscle in his abdomen during play earlier in the tournament. He aggravated it in his five-set win over Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
During that match, Nadal took a medical timeout in the second set. From the stands, his father and other members of his family motioned for him to stop playing rather than risk further injury, but Nadal ignored their pleas and pulled off one of the more remarkable comeback wins of a career that has seen many of them.
After the match, Nadal said he was worried that he might not be able to play in the semifinal and that he planned to have a scan to determine the extent of the injury.
“The decision at the end — all the decisions — are the player’s decision, but at the same time I need to know different opinions and I need to check everything the proper way, no? That is even something more important than win Wimbledon, that is the health,” he said.
Nadal’s game had been improving with each match, something he also noted after his win over Fritz, despite this being his first tournament on grass in three years.
“The level of tennis, if we put away the problems, something that’s difficult, the level of tennis, the feeling that I am having with the ball on my hand is honestly great. I am feeling myself playing very well,” he said.
With Nadal’s withdrawal, Kyrgios receives a pass through to his first Grand Slam singles final. Kyrgios, 27, had never made a Grand Slam singles semifinal previously in a career filled with controversy.
Nadal had won the first two Grand Slams of the year, the Australian Open and the French Open. The win against Fritz put him just nine wins away from a calendar-year Grand Slam, something no male player has pulled off since Rod Laver in 1969.
