Wimbledon - 'Very sad' Rafael Nadal explains decision to withdraw before semi-final with Nick Kyrgios

Rafael Nadal has given his reaction after he was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon ahead of his semi-final clash with Nick Kyrgios due to his abdominal tear. Nadal practised at the All England Club on Thursday ahead of the last-four clash with the Australian, but he then called a press conference for the evening in which he confirmed that he had been forced to pull out. Ad/> It has been reported in the Spanish press that medical tests revealed he suffered a seven-millimetre tear in one of his abdominal muscles during the quarter-final against Taylor Fritz.

According to Cadena Ser, Nadal appeared at the All England Tennis Club at 2pm on Thursday, and minutes later, he began training to prepare for the semi-final. WimbledonWimbledon order of play, Day 12 — when are Djokovic and Norrie playing?40 MINUTES AGO The Spaniard somehow managed to continue his quest to secure a historic Calendar Slam in 2022 after he roared back to beat Fritz in a marathon quarter-final. But while he managed to pull through the match with Fritz, he has come to the decision that he will not be able to compete at a sufficient level against Kyrgios on Friday.

“As you can imagine, I am here because I have to pull out from the tournament," Nadal said in the hastily-arranged press conference. «As everybody saw yesterday, I have been suffering with pain in my abdomen. »It wasn’t okay then, and now it’s confirmed.

I have a tear in the abdominal muscle. The communication is too late. I was thinking the whole day about the decision to make, but I think it doesn’t make sense [to continue].

Very tough circumstances; it’s obvious that if I keep going, the injury will worsen. I’m very sad to say that. “I made my decision because I believe that I cannot win two