Wimbledon: Rafael Nadal announces withdrawal from semi-final

Europe 1 with AFP 9:43 p.m., July 7, 2022

Rafael Nadal announced on Thursday evening that he will not play his Wimbledon semi-final scheduled for Friday against Nick Kyrgios due to an abdominal injury.

"I have an abdominal tear. We discussed all day about the decision to take, but it makes no sense to play if I want to continue my career", explained the Spaniard with 22 Grand Slam titles, who is 36 years old, during a press conference.

"If I play, the injury will get worse and worse," he added.

"I made this decision because I can't win two more games. Out of respect for myself, I don't want to play without being competitive at the level I want and at the same time aggravate my injury." he insisted.

The player with 22 Grand Slam titles almost gave up in the quarter-finals on Wednesday against Taylor Fritz, but he does not regret having gone to the end of his match.

"The decision was good because I finished the match and on top of that I won. I'm not the kind of person who looks back after making a decision. You learn from your mistakes, I try not to not repeat them, but I didn't want to give up and leave the court in the middle of a match," he explained.

Seven millimeter abdominal tear

"I had abdominal problems for a week, but I was able to control it. Yesterday (Tuesday), it became very painful. The very small injury I had a few days earlier had grown", a- he noted.

He estimates he won't be cured for "3 or 4 weeks", which shouldn't change his tournament plans.

Winner of the first two Majors of the year (Australian Open and Roland-Garros), he suffered from an abdominal tear seven millimeters in length, the Spanish daily

reported on Thursday .

He thus lets Kyrgios access his first Grand Slam final without playing.

He will be opposed to the triple title holder Novak Djokovic or the Briton Cameron Norrie.