Rafa Nadal exults through gritted teeth: ‘Something is wrong’

Nadal joins Kyrgios in the semifinals after folding Taylor Fritz in a fifth-set tie-break.

Not ‘content’ with having already written epic pages in tennis history-the last one in Melborune, at the Australian Open, when he won his 21st Slam by coming back from two sets down against Daniil Medvedev-Rafa Nadal put another brick in his incredible career.

Down one set against Taylor Fritz, his opponent in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, the Majorcan had to resort to medical time out for a serious abdominal problem. Put back on his feet with difficulty, and already aching from known foot problems, the Spaniard first evened the score, then lost the third set and won the fourth, staying stoically in the match. In the fifth set Nadal even went ahead by a break, only to be counter-break by Fritz and still drag the match to the tie-break. Where he tactically and mentally dominated his opponent, prevailing 10-4.

“I honestly don’t know how I won, I really enjoy playing this kind of match in front of the crowd, which I thank for the support,” the Mallorcan began in the on-court interview as soon as the match was over ” It was a tough afternoon against a great player, we have to give due credit to Taylor who is playing a great season. From my point of view it was not an easy match, but I am happy to be in the semifinals. It is clear that honestly something from the abdominal point of view is wrong, I had to find a way to serve in a different way, in some moments I thought I would not be able to finish the match, however, the court gives me energy.”

Just 14 years ago, also on July 6, Nadal won his first Wimbledon by beating Roger Federer in an epic final: “The memory of the final with Roger 14 years ago cannot be forgotten, we have played on this court so many matches in our careers, but if I had thought in 2008 that I would still be playing a semifinal in 2022, I would never have believed it. I hope to be ready to play it at my best, Nick Krygios is a great player on grass, he had a great season on this surface-I hope to be 100 percent to play my chances,” Nadal concluded.