Rafael Nadal defies severe pain but fears his Wimbledon might be over

Rafael Nadal admits he is “worried” about his fitness to play Nick Kyrgios in Friday’s Wimbledon semi-final after an abdominal injury left him in such agony that he was forced to alter his service action.

Despite completing a staggering five-set comeback win over Taylor Fritz, the world No14, in a match so painful and gruelling that even his father, Sebastian, urged him to quit, the Spaniard was downbeat on his chances of backing up such a performance against Kyrgios. 

“I’m worried now, honestly,” Nadal said. “I’m going to have some more tests. In my tennis career, I’m used to having things, to holding pain and to playing with problems. Knowing that, when I feel something like I felt here, it is because something is not going the proper way in the abdominal area. Without a doubt, this was the worst day. There has been an important increase of pain and limitation.”

The distress was so acute in the second set that Nadal’s father, Sebastian, implored him from the stands to abandon this quarter-final for his own benefit, making a “leave” gesture with his hand. “They told me I needed to retire from the match, yeah,” he said. “But for me, it was tough to retire in the middle of the match. It wasn’t easy, even if I had that idea for such a long time. I did it a couple of times in my career, and it’s something that I hate to do. So I just keep trying, and that’s it.”