Wimbledon 2022: Rafael Nadal beats Taylor Fritz and abdominal pain to qualify for semis

Rafael Nadal is known for his never say die attitude on the court. Doesn’t matter what the situation is, who the opponent is, or what the surface is, Nadal is cut from a different cloth. As a young child, Nadal has been groomed to play with all the pain as his foot has been troubling him throughout his career.

The Spaniard is a mentally tough player as he had followed the strict regime of his uncle and former coach Toni Nadal. In the Wimbledon 2022 quarterfinals against an in-form Taylor Fritz, who hadn’t lost a single set in the first four rounds, Nadal was in a tricky situation as he was suffering from abdominal pain.

The veteran lost the first set by 6-3 and it wasn’t looking good for him in the second set before he took a medical time out to have a word with his physio.

Nadal came back on court after receiving some treatment and like the warrior he is, picked up his racquet to get back to business. The Spaniard, who was looking like retiring from the match, went on to win the match 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(10-4) in an epic clash that lasted more than four hours on Centre Court on Wednesday.

The 36-year-old veteran added that the crowd energy really helped him keep going as he was able to bail himself out of the trouble.

“It was a tough afternoon against a great player,” said Nadal in his on-court interview. “All the credit to Taylor, he has been playing great during the whole season. From my personal side, it was not an easy match at all, so I’m just very happy to be in the semi-finals.

“The body, in general, is fine. In the abdominal [area] it is not going well, being honest. I had to find a way to serve a little bit differently, for a lot of moments I was thinking maybe I would not be able to finish the match, but I don’t know. The court, the energy [helped me].”

Nadal had refused to talk about his abdominal injury after his fourth-round match against Botic van de Zandschulp. The Spaniard is hopeful to be ready for the semifinal clash against Nick Kyrgios.

“I hope to be ready to play,” said Nadal. “Nick is a great player on all surfaces, but especially here on grass. He’s having a great grass-court season and it’s going to be a big challenge. I need to be at 100% to keep having chances and that’s what I am going to try to do.”