Rafa Nadal makes decision on Wimbledon semi-final as details of injury emerge

Rafael Nadal has decided he wants to go ahead and play his Wimbledon 2022 semi-final against Nick Kyrgios, despite details of a key injury emerging.

Second-seed Nadal booked his spot in the last four with a dramatic 3-6 7-5 3-6 7-5 7-6 victory over American Taylor Fritz on Wednesday and faces fiery Australian Nick Kyrgios on Friday for a spot in the final.

The 36-year-old survived an injury scare midway through the second set of that match and required off-court treatment to continue playing.

There was heavy speculation that the injury was an abdominal problem, and it can now be revealed that Nadal has suffered a seven-millimetre abdominal tear.

However, with a 2022 Surface Slam and Channel Slam in sight after his victories at Roland Garros and the Australian Open, Nadal has decided he wants to play on and appeared for a practice session on Thursday.

The 22-time major champion has beaten Fritz, Botic van de Zandschulp, Lorenzo Sonego, Ricardas Berankis and Francisco Cerundolo on his way to the last four.

If he can overcome Kyrgios, he will take on six-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic or Great British No.1 Cameron Norrie in the Championship match.

Nadal defied his family’s wishes by battling through the abdominal injury to record his remarkable five-set victory over Fritz.

The Spaniard’s father Sebastian gestured to his son to call it a day when he went off for treatment and Nadal shook his head towards his box, with Fritz seemingly waiting for a handshake.

‘They told me I need to retire the match, yes,’ Nadal said. ‘For me it was tough to retire in the middle of the match.

‘Not easy even if I had that idea for such a long time. It’s something that I hate to do. So I just kept trying, and that’s it.’

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