Hampered Nadal gets past Fritz at Wimbledon; Kyrgios next
The Hindu
Rafael Nadal extended his Grand Slam winning streak to 19 matches with a 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10-4) victory over 11th-seeded Taylor Fritz in the Wimbledon quarterfinals
Wincing from abdominal pain, unable to ply his customary relentless style of tennis, Rafael Nadal thought he might need to stop playing in the Wimbledon quarterfinals against Taylor Fritz.
Up in the Centre Court stands, Mr. Nadal's father was waving his arms, motioning to the 22-time Grand Slam champion to quit. Not surprisingly, perhaps, he didn't listen. Nadal stayed out there, adjusted his service motion and his strategy — and figured out a way to win.
With much of the crowd roaring and standing after Mr. Nadal's best strokes, he twice erased one-set deficits against the 11th-seeded Fritz and emerged with 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10-4) victory Wednesday to reach his eighth semifinal at the All England Club.
“For a lot of moments,” Mr. Nadal said, “I was thinking, ‘Maybe I will not be able to finish the match.’”
He did complete it, but said he couldn't be sure whether he will be able to play Friday against Nick Kyrgios, a 27-year-old Australian who earned his Grand Slam semifinal debut with a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over Cristian Garin of Chile.
“I don’t know exactly what I have. It’s clear something’s not right,” said Mr. Nadal, who will get tests Thursday for an issue that first cropped up nearly a week ago but got much worse at 3-1 in the first set against Mr. Fritz. “I’m obviously worried.”
The other men’s semifinal is Novak Djokovic against Cam Norrie. The women’s semifinals Thursday are 2019 champion Simona Halep against Elena Rybakina, and Ons Jabeur against Tatjana Maria. Halep eliminated Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-4, and Rybakina defeated Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.