WIMBLEDON, England — Rafael Nadal appeared to have lost the Grand Slam on Wednesday at Wimbledon, but he persevered despite suffering from an abdominal ailment to defeat the rising American sensation, Taylor Fritz, 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6. (10-4).
This year's Wimbledon included a new rule that mandates a first-to-10-point tiebreaker to be played at 6-6 in the fifth set. This made for a thrilling quarterfinal that lasted 4 hours and 21 minutes.
Fritz, a big-serving 24-year-old Californian having a breakout year, was about to achieve the biggest victory of his career. Despite his strength and tenacity, he was unable to maintain his two-sets-to-one advantage and rapidly lost control of the crucial tiebreaker, trailing Nadal, 0-5, as the 22-time Grand Slam singles winner summoned his shotmaking skills.
Now back in the semifinals, Nadal, who is competing in his first Wimbledon since 2019, will take on Australian Nick Kyrgios, another powerful server with a considerably more erratic temperament.
The first thing I hope is that I'll be prepared to play it, Nadal stated during his on-court interview. "Nick is a fantastic player on all surfaces, but particularly on the grass here. He is having a fantastic season on grass courts. It's going to be really difficult. In order to continue having opportunities, I must give it everything I've got.
When Nadal left Centre Court for a medical stoppage on Wednesday to receive treatment for what he said was a lower abdomen ailment, it appeared as though he could have been about to end the match. For a while, his service rates and quality of play declined, and at one point, his father Sebastian, sister Maria Isabel, and agent Carlos Costa all appeared to be pleading with him to quit.
Nadal acknowledged he gave it some thought. Speaking to the Center Court audience, he remarked, "For a number of times, I was thinking maybe I won't be able to finish the match." However, I'm not sure if it was the court, the atmosphere, or anything else, so thanks for that.
At Wimbledon, where his long-standing adversary Roger Federer has long held that position, Rafael Nadal hasn't always been the audience favorite. However, because Federer won't be competing here this year, Nadal, who returned to the tournament after a three-year absence, has struggled to quickly regain his grass-court form.
He exerted effort on Wednesday, leveled the score at two sets apiece, and moved up a break to take a 4-3 lead in the fifth set before losing his own serve in the following game. He recovered control as the match went past the four-hour mark, though, and sealed the triumph with a beautiful forehand winner from inside the baseline that included his trademark bolo-whip finish behind his left ear.
The final British singles participant, Cameron Norrie, will take on No. 9 seed Novak Djokovic in the second men's semifinal on Friday. Djokovic is the three-time defending Wimbledon winner.
Wimbledon has been chock full of unexpected events. Because of the invasion of Ukraine, the All England Club disallowed Russian and Belarusian players before the match started. Following exposure to the coronavirus, Matteo Berrettini, Marin Cilic, and Roberto Bautista Agut withdrew from the competition.
But as the match enters its final stretch, Nadal and Djokovic are still in the running.
Nadal won the Australian and French Opens, the first two Grand Slam competitions of the year, for the first time in his lengthy career. Since Rod Laver in 1969, no man has completed a Grand Slam, winning all four major championships in the same year, and Nadal maintained his bid while Laver, who is now 83, was there in the royal box.
The battle between Nadal and Fritz earlier this year in the BNP Paribas Open final in Indian Wells, California, served as a prelude to their current encounter.
Fritz defeated his opponent 6-3, 7-6 (5) to claim the largest victory in his career, yet neither player was at their physical peak. After hurting his ankle in the previous round, Fritz participated. Nadal was unable to serve and execute his groundstrokes with full force due to what turned out to be a stress fracture in one of his ribs.
At 4-3 in the second set on Wednesday, Nadal left Centre Court for a medical timeout. He later returned to the grass and finished the match. Fritz had his left leg wrapped when he arrived.
Throughout the competition, he has been sporting what seemed to be an anti-inflammatory patch on his lower abdomen. He declined to go into further detail regarding the ailment when questioned about it before the quarterfinal.
Nadal admitted, seeming truly weary of the topic, "I am a little bit bored to talk about my physique."
But I'm in the middle of the competition, so I have to keep playing, right? All due respect to the remaining adversaries. Every day, I'm simply doing the best I can. I am currently in good enough health to continue fighting for what I desire.
So it still stands, even though neutralizing Kyrgios will be difficult.
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