The Spaniard rode through a grueling five-set streak against Taylor Fritz on Wednesday, winning 3-6 7-5 3-6 7-5 7-6 in four hours and 20 minutes, but appeared to struggle at times with an injury to his midsection .
On more than one occasion, Nadal remained bent over after a shot and held his stomach. The two-time Wimbledon champion called the coach for an assessment in the second set, before eventually using a medical time-out and walking off the court for treatment.
“I don’t know,” Nadal said, according to Reuters, when asked if he would face Kyrgios. “Honestly, I can’t give you a straight answer because if I give you a straight answer and tomorrow something happens, I’ll be a liar.”
After the match, Nadal admitted that he considered withdrawing from the quarter-final clash.
“I just wanted to give myself a chance,” he added. [It’s] not easy to leave the tournament, [it’s] not easy to leave Wimbledon, even if the pain was hard. I do not know. I wanted to finish. I fought. [I’m] proud of the fighting spirit and how I managed to compete in these conditions.
“I’m used to holding in the pain and playing with the problems. Knowing that, when I feel something the way I felt, it’s because something’s not going the right way. [my] abdomen.
“But let’s see. I had these feelings for a few days. Without a doubt, today was the worst day, was a major increase in pain and limitation.”
Nadal broke through the pain barrier to win his 14th French Open title earlier this year, receiving foot injections before every game. In a post-match press conference at Roland Garros, Nadal said his 21-year career had made him endure pain “every day”.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion was an injury doubt at Wimbledon after receiving treatment for the foot injury that dogged him at the French Open, but he has now reached the semi-finals at the All England Club for the eighth time in his career.
