Rafa Nadal’s hopes of completing a rare calendar year Grand Slam ended on Thursday when the Spaniard pulled out of his highly-anticipated Wimbledon semi-final showdown against Australian Nick Kyrgios with an abdominal strain.
Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, won the Australian and French Opens back-to-back this year for the first time in his career and was bidding to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to complete the calendar-year slam.
“Unfortunately, I have to pull out from the tournament,” the dejected Spaniard told reporters at a hastily arranged news conference, less than 24 hours before his semi-final. “I am very sad.”
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With the Spaniard’s withdrawal, unseeded 27-year-old Kyrgios became the first Australian to reach the men’s singles final at the All England Club since Mark Philippoussis in 2003.
The Australian has shown his good, bad and ugly sides during the tournament and been fined a total of US$14,000 for two offences – spitting toward a fan after his first-round win and swearing in a fiery third-round clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas.
“I hope your recovery goes well and we all hope to see you healthy soon,” Kyrgios wrote in an Instagram post addressed to Nadal.
The 40th-ranked Kyrgios will take on either top seed Novak Djokovic, who is bidding for a fourth straight and seventh overall title on the manicured lawns of Wimbledon, or local hope Cameron Norrie in Sunday’s final. Their semi-final is scheduled for Friday.
After Nadal missed a chunk of last season with a foot injury, including the 2021 Wimbledon and U.S. Open, he arrived for the Australian Open at the start of the year after suffering a bout of COVID-19 and with lingering doubts over his fitness.
But despite a poor build up the 36-year-old went on to lift the trophy at Melbourne Park.
He then suffered a stress fracture in his ribs at Indian Wells but played at Roland Garros and won the title with pain-killing injections before each match.
Nadal only confirmed his Wimbledon participation after radio frequency treatment eased the pain in his foot.
Nadal said he thought he might be sidelined for about a month or so. The year’s last Grand Slam tournament, the U.S. Open, starts Aug. 29.
With a report from The Associated Press