22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal saw his bid to win a Calendar Slam in 2022 come to an abrupt end after he was forced to pull out of his semi-final clash with Australia’s Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon.
Having reached the quarterfinals against America’s Taylor Fritz, Nadal showed signs of great discomfort during the match and needed a medical timeout to deal with an abdominal problem. The Spaniard fought through the pain despite his father Sebastian wildly gesticulating for him to retire from the match and went on to defeat Fritz in five sets 3-6 7-5 3-6 7-5 7-6. After the match, Nadal was brutally honest as he told reporters that he could not confirm if he would play in the semis until after a scan.
After winning both the Australian Open and French Open this year, Rafael Nadal was on the hunt for the Wimbledon crown. The 36-year-old has had his fair share of injuries, including a horrible one affecting his foot that forced him to play the French Open final against Casper Ruud with his foot under anaesthesia. This abdominal injury is said to have plagued him since the beginning of the tournament, but he managed the injury well until the quarterfinals.
As a result of Nadal’s withdrawal, the controversial Nick Kyrgios will proceed to the final of the tournament where he will face one of Novak Djokovic or Cameron Norrie.
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