Rafael Nadal 'very sad' as he withdraws from Wimbledon due to injury

7 July 2022, 19:34 | Updated: 7 July 2022, 21:45

Two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the tournament due to an abdominal injury.

The 22-time grand-slam champion battled through the issue to beat Taylor Fritz in five sets on Wednesday to progress into the semi-finals in SW19 but scans a day later revealed the severity of the injury.

Nadal said at a press conference: "Unfortunately as you can imagine I am here because I have to pull out from the tournament.

"As everyone saw yesterday I have been suffering with a pain in the abdominal and something was not OK there. That is confirmed, I have a tear in the muscle and the communication is too late.

"I was thinking the whole day I was thinking about the decision to make but I think it doesn't make sense to go, even if I try through my career to keep going. It is very tough circumstances but it is obvious if I keep going the injury will be worse and worse."

Nadal, who was on for a calendar year grand slam, was set to play Nick Kyrgios in Friday's semi-final but his scheduled Australian opponent will now receive a walkover into a maiden major final.

The Spaniard insisted he made his tough decision due to the abdominal issue preventing him from being able to serve.

"I never thought about the calendar slam, I thought about my diary and my happiness," Nadal said.

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"I make the decision because I don't believe I can win two matches under the circumstances. It is not only I can't serve at the right speed, it is I can't do the normal movement to serve.

"After that to imagine myself winning two matches, and for respect for myself in some way, I don't want to go out there and not be competitive enough to play at the level I need to play to achieve my goals."

Nadal's participation at the All England Club was in doubt immediately after he won the French Open.

He left Roland Garros on crutches but received treatment on a nerve in his left foot to be fit to play at the third major of 2022.

Nadal will be sidelined for "three to four weeks", with the US Open - scheduled to take place at the end of August - a target for the two-time Wimbledon champion.

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"I had some issues in the abdominal since the week but things were more or less, I was able to control it but yesterday was the worse day," he said.

"During the week I did tests to see how things evolved and it is obvious yesterday after the match, the very small thing I had days ago increased to a bigger thing.

"For me the most important thing is happiness, not titles, even if everyone's know what I have done to get here. I can't risk the match and risk two or three months out of the competition.

"It is my decision, I have to live with that and I can't say another thing. I am very sad."