The tennis world is in shock. When it looked like Rafael Nadal was ready to challenge for another Grand Slam title in his decorated career, the Spanish superstar announced he withdraws from Wimbledon.
Nadal, 36, was expected to take on Nick Kyrgios in an exciting semifinal clash on Friday, but as a result of his decision, the Australian player received a bye to the grand final in the prestigious tournament.
Rafa was doing a fantastic tournament,looking on pace to win thetrophy for the third time. Nadal made the way to the semifinals after leaving Francisco Cerundolo, Ricardas Berankis, Lorenzo Sonego, Botic van de Zandschulp, and Taylor Fritz on the way. But why did he withdraw? Let’s take a look.
Why did Rafael Nadal pull out of Wimbledon?
Though he was pretty close to the grand final, the Spanish legend seemed to had no option but to quit. Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from Wimbledon due to an abdominal tear. After playing through pain, he couldn’t risk suffering an even worse injury.
“As everybody saw yesterday, I have been suffering a pain in the abdominal. It doesn’t make sense to play, injury will get worse. I don’t want to take the risk to be out for 2 or 3 months,” Nadal said in a press conference.
“Usually it takes 3-4 weeks to recover from these type of injuries, which would allow me to keep the planned schedule. In a week, I should be able to practice from the baseline, without serving.”
It’s a shame to see an injury preventing Rafa from writing more history, but he’s gone incredibly far regardless. Now, it’s time for him to recover and come back stronger, something he already did before. Meanwhile, Kyrgios —the first playet to get a walk-over intoa Wimbledon final — awaits for the winner of Novak Djokovic vs. Cameron Norrie ahead of his first ever Grand Slam final.