Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from Wimbledon and will not play his semi-final match with Nick Kyrgios due to an abdominal injury.
After undergoing tests on Thursday, Nadal was found to have suffered a 7mm tear in one of his abdominal muscles during the match with Taylor Fritz.
“Unfortunately I am here because I have to pull out from the tournament,” Nadal told the press.
“I was thinking the whole day about the decision to make but I think it doesn’t make sense to go [on court].
“Even if I tried a lot in my career to keep going in very tough circumstances.
“I think it’s obvious if I keep going the injury is gonna get worse and worse and that’s the thing that I can say now.”
Not competitive
Nadal was due to take on Kyrgios, with a potential final with Novak Djokovic, and he doesn’t feel he could win either game.
“It’s not only that I can’t serve at the right speed it’s that I can’t do the normal moment to serve,” Nadal went on.
“To imagine myself winning two matches… and for respect to myself in some way, I don’t want to go out there and not be competitive enough.
“I can’t risk that much and stay two, three months outside of the competition because that’s going to be a tough thing for me.
“If that happens, it happens, but not because I was not doing things the proper way.”
It is the sixth time Nadal has withdrawn from a tournament before taking to the court.
Marca
