Always in trouble with his left foot, Rafael Nadal must now deal with an abdominal injury.
These pains did not prevent the Spaniard from qualifying for the semi-finals of Wimbledon, when he seemed close to giving up in the quarter against Taylor Fritz.
The man with 22 Grand Slam titles, however, left doubts about his presence in the semi-final scheduled for Friday against Nick Kyrgios.
We will know this Thursday, after medical examinations, if Rafael Nadal can play his Wimbledon semi-final against the sanguine Nick Kyrgios.
The Spaniard let uncertainty hover on Wednesday, after another incredible victory against the American Taylor Fritz snatched after 4:20 of the match, in the super tie-break (3-6, 7-5, 3- 6, 7-5, 7-6 [10-4]).
For any other player, pessimism would dominate.
But in the case of the record holder for victories in Majors (22), it is impossible to make any predictions.
It's irrational, but we'd even be surprised if the future dad gave up.
One is 35 years old.
The other is 36 years old.
After respectively 3h35 and 4h20 of play, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have once again disgusted the new generation to qualify for the semi-finals of #Wimbledon.
pic.twitter.com/NvsiSayyLN
— Game, Set and Maths (@JeuSetMaths) July 6, 2022
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Decreased for several days by an abs injury, Nadal seemed worse on several occasions against Fritz.
He notably went to have treatment in the locker room in the middle of the second set.
The Spaniard received by his own admission anti-inflammatories and analgesics, not to mention massages from a physiotherapist.
His serve was slowed down, with a modified gesture because of the pain?
His backhands almost always sliced out of necessity?
His sister and especially his father, present in the gallery, encouraged him to throw in the towel, with great gestures in support?
He hung on and ended up triumphing.
As usual, or almost.
His father and sister wanted him to give up
“They told me to give up, dropped the former world number 1, now fourth.
It's difficult, even though I've been thinking about it for a while and even though it's happened to me before.
It's something I hate to do.
So I kept trying to play.
According to him, the fervor of the Central Court has also helped the cyborg of Manacor.
“I thought several times that I would not finish the match, but the public, with the energy that they sent me, allowed me to go to the end”, he assured.
So here is Nadal still in the running for an incredible Grand Slam calendar, the one who had escaped in extremis last year from a Novak Djokovic in full possession of his means (at least physical), when concluding in the final of the US Open against Daniil Medvedev.
For this, the Spaniard has won tournaments in which it was long believed that he would not participate.
The Australian Open?
He had barely made his return two weeks before, at the beginning of January in Melbourne, after five months of absence due to the now famous Mueller-Weiss syndrome which leads to necrosis of the navicular bone of his left foot, then a Covid carbine.
Roland Garros ?
He arrived in his garden with a starving record (for him) on clay, during a campaign disrupted by a cracked coast.
Then his foot recalled his bad memory in the round of 16 in Rome against Denis Shapovalov.
“It's a pain that comes and goes.
Sometimes stronger, sometimes less.
Today was crazy, ”he said after his loss to the Canadian on May 12.
Wimbledon?
On June 7, two days after winning his 14th Porte d'Auteuil title with a lot of infiltrations that "slept" his foot and annoyed many other athletes (hello cyclists), Nadal appeared on crutches.
He was coming out of a clinic in Barcelona where he had undergone radiofrequency treatment to numb the nerves in his foot.
A month later, Rafa is walking on his own two feet and should therefore play his eighth semi-final at Wimbledon, with large strips on his stomach and under his T-shirt.
"My body, in general, is fine but the problem is the abs", slipped Nadal after the success on Fritz, who confided to having "wanted to cry" after losing against a player who "probably suffered a lot", according to the American.
What if the Spaniard wins his third Wimbledon, after the antediluvian titles of 2008 and 2010?
For the statue, it's already done on the side of Paris.
We allow ourselves to suggest the launch of a special edition of the game Doctor Maboul.
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Rafael Nadal
Wimbledon