So Close, Yet . . . : Abdominal Injury Forces Nadal Out Of Wimbledon Grand Slam

By Barry Janoff

July 7, 2022: What his opponents could not do, Rafael Nadal’s own body managed to achieve as the 22-time men’s Grand Slam champion withdrew from Wimbledon today due to an abdominal tear.

The move came a day prior to his semi-final match against Nick Kyrgios, which was scheduled for July 8, and following his five-set quarter-final win against Taylor Fritz on July 6, during which the injury nearly forced Nadal to stop play during the match.

“I was thinking during the whole day about the decision to make," Nadal said during a media conference at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. "I am here because I have to pull out from the Tournament.

“It doesn’t make sense to go. It's obvious that if I keep going, the injury will be worse and worse. I made my decision because I can't believe I can win two matches . . . I can't do my normal movement to serve."

His 22 Grand Slam wins include the Australian Open and Roland Garros this year.

Nadal, No. 4 in the world, has two wins at Wimbledon among his Grand Slam titles, but none since 2010.

This was also his first appearance at Wimbledon since 2019 due to the tournament’s cancellation in 2020 over COVID-19 concerns and his personal decision not to play in 2021.

“Even if I tried a lot of times during my career to keep going under very tough circumstances, in that one I think it's obvious that if I keep going, the injury will get worse and worse. That's the thing that I can say now. I feel very sad to say that, it's a very tough one."

Kyrgios, ranked No. 47 by the ATP Tour, advanced to his first title match at a major tournament, scheduled for July 10 (ESPN).

“I hope your recovery goes well and we all hope to see you healthy soon,” Kyrgios posted to social media.

Wimbledon organizers posted to social media, “We’re sad to see it end this way. Thank you for another year of unforgettable moments at The Championships.”

"For respect to myself in some way, I don't want to go out there, not be competitive enough to play at the level that I need to play to achieve my goal, and with a big chance to make things much worse,” he said during the media conference.

"As I always said, for me the most important thing is happiness more than any title, even if everybody knows how much effort I put to be here. But I can't risk that match and stay two, three months outside of the competition because that's going to be a tough thing for me."

Nadal, 36, has been forced off the court several times over the past year due to a variety of injuries, including a fractured rib and a chronic injury in his left foot.

Nadal is not alone among tennis icons dealing with injuries. Roger Federer has missed most of the season following a third surgery on his right knee. Serena Williams was off the pro court for a year following an injury suffered during Wimbledon in 2021 before returning to pre-Wimbldeon warm-up matches.

"I had some issues with the abdominals (for about) a week, but more or less we were able to control it. But yesterday was the worst day,” said Nadal.

"Yesterday in the game that I was serving 3-1 to 3-2 (during the first set vs. Fritz), I think was the moment that I start to feel the things were going worse. Then serving, if I was not wrong, 4-3 the thing starts to be much worse.

"It's obvious that yesterday after the match this very small thing that I had days ago, increased to a bigger thing."

Nadal still seems to have plans to play at the U.S. Open in New York,  the last Grand Slam of the year (Aug. 29-Sept. 11).

"It’s going to be around three, four weeks, normal thing for these kind of injuries (for recovery),” he said. “I hope it will allow me to do my normal calendar," said Nadal.

"In one week I (can) to be able to play from the baseline. Not serving for a while, of course.

"In some way that's a positive thing, that I [am] going to keep being able to practice from the baseline. That helps to try to make the calendar that I want to do."

“I am not the kind of player or person who when you make a decision you look back and say, ‘I should not have done that’ or ‘I should have done another thing.’

“Yesterday I found a way to finish the match, something I’m proud of.

“The fact that I am at Wimbledon shows how important it is to me.”

Photos: AELTC/Wimbledon

Nadal Feels Good-To-Go For Wimbledon

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