“They told me I need to retire the match” – Nadal didn’t heed his box and soldiered on to victory
Rafael Nadal adding another gritty win to his Grand Slam legacy on Wednesday at Wimbledon. It could have ended far differently if he wasn’t so determined.
Spain’s Rafael Nadal during his quarter final match against Taylor Fritz of the U.S. / AI / Reuters / Panoramic
During the second set of Rafael Nadal’s 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(10-4) victory over Taylor Fritz on Centre Court, when he was suffering acute pain due to his abdominal issue, the Spaniard’s father and sister were caught on camera giving Nadal the signal to retire his match against the American.
Nadal wasn’t up for retiring, however, and dealt with the severe pain in his abdominals as he battled to improve his record to 19-0 at the Grand Slams in 2022.
“They told me I need to retire the match. For me was tough to retire in the middle of the match. Not easy even if I had that idea for such a long time.”
Rafael Nadal
Another day, another inspiring victory for the all-time men’s singles Grand Slam title leader…
After the match Nadal told reporters that he caught the signal from his father, Sebastian, and his sister, Maria Isabel, but had his own ideas about how much pain he could handle, and what he was capable of producing tennis-wise in the match.
“They told me I need to retire the match, yeah,” Nadal said. “For me was tough to retire in the middle of the match. Not easy even if I had that idea for such a long time.
“But on the other hand, I did it a couple of times in my tennis career. Is something that I hate to do it. So I just keep trying, and that’s it.”
“An important increase in pain”
In the aftermath of a trying victory, Nadal is now left to contemplate the next step. He is slated to face Nick Kyrgios in semi-final action on Friday at Wimbledon, but isn’t quite sure how he’s going to turn up.
“Tomorrow I going to have some more tests,” Nadal said. “But difficult to know… I am used to have things and I am used to hold pain and to play with problems. Knowing that, when I feel something like I felt, that is because something is not going the proper way in abdominal, no?”
Nadal has been dealing with the issue, and wearing kinesio tape on his abdomen to protect himself, since the start of Wimbledon. But on Wednesday the injury took a dramatic turn for the worse.
“Let’s see,” he said. “It’s obvious that today is nothing new. I had these feelings for a couple of days. Without a doubt, today was the worst day. Have been an important increase of pain and limitation. And that’s it, yeah.
“I managed to win that match. Let’s see what’s going on tomorrow.”
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Selfish of him not to retire during the game. He keeps the prize money, Fritz is denied a chance to advance, and Kyrios gets a free pass to the final.