Former world number one, Rafael Nadal, has pulled out of the Wimbledon Championship, a day before his semifinal fixture against Nick Kyrgios due to an abdominal injury. The Spaniard confirmed that he had a tear in his abdominal muscles and was very sure he could not play two more matches in that state: “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.”

In his quarterfinal fixture against Taylor Fritz on Wednesday, it was clear that Nadal was in so much pain, but he still managed to pull through and fought to win the match after five sets.

Speaking on Thursday, Nadal said that even though he was sad about the decision to pull out, it did not make sense to stay on: “As everyone saw yesterday, I have been suffering with 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 has won the two Grand Slams of the year, also said that making a Calendar slam was not his dream, but his concern is his diary and his happiness.

Following his withdrawal, Kyrgios would now proceed to the final, where he would face the winner of the Novak Djokovic vs. Cameron Norrie fixture. This would be the first Grand Slam final for the world number 40, and he would now be the lowest-ranked man to make it to the final at Wimbledon.

Written by: Leon Osamor