Rafael Nadal pulls out of Wimbledon before semifinal due to injury

“I have to pull out of the tournament. As everybody saw yesterday I have been suffering from pain in the abdominal [area]. That’s confirmed. I have a tear in the muscle,” Nadal said during a news conference at the All England Club on Thursday.

“It doesn’t make sense to play, injury will get worse,” he added.

We're sad to see it end this way, @RafaelNadal

Thank you for another year of unforgettable moments at The Championships#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/XadiEVxaWF

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2022

The 22-time Grand Slam champion was scheduled to face Nick Kyrgios for a berth in the final on Friday.

Kyrgios advanced to his first final at a major tournament. He will meet either Novak Djokovic or Cam Norrie for the championship on Sunday.

Nadal has been bothered by a stomach muscle for about a week, and the pain became nearly unbearable in the first set of his 4-hour, 21-minute victory via fifth-set tiebreaker against Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

After that match, Nadal said he had considered stopping. He took a medical timeout to take painkilling pills and his father and sister motioned from the stands for him to quit.

On Thursday’s off day, Nadal went to the All England Club for a light practice session. He was signed up on the official schedule to train on one of the competition courts but did not show up there, instead opting for practice courts to which fans don’t have access.

Mostly content to hit forehands and backhands, Nadal did attempt a few serves — the part of his game that revealed the most obvious inability to play with full force and, he said, caused the most discomfort against Fritz. Those practice serves Thursday were generally tapped in, by Nadal’s standards, not with any of the body-torqueing effort he usually uses.

(With AP inputs)