Wimbledon 2022: Rafael Nadal thought about giving up his quarter against Fritz due to injury, still uncertain for Kyrgios – Eurosport FR

Unsinkable Rafael Nadal. This Wednesday, the Spaniard once again demonstrated all his strength of character, his combativeness, these elements which have made him one of the greatest sportsmen in history, and which explains why, in this month of July, he is still in the race for an unprecedented calendar Grand Slam. Victorious in an epic match in 5 sets against Taylor Fritz (3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6), the Mallorcan was nevertheless buried by many on several occasions. a nasty injury, which very quickly disrupted his match against the American. “The body, in general, is fine but I have something in the abdominals”, he revealed after the meeting, as if to reassure everyone about the state of his left foot, suffering from Muller’s syndrome. -Weiss.Wimbledon“I thought the train had passed”: Kyrgios surprises everyone, even him4 HOURS AGO For a moment, in my head, I thought about giving up“I’ve had these for a few days pain, but today it was much worse, I had much more pain and it handicapped me much more”, indicated the man with 22 Grand Slam titles. Limping, unable to serve, the No. 2 seed, trailing by one set, worried the Center Court crowd when she called for the physio, after she came back to 4-all in the second set. Kyrgios, a pure talent but a detestable attitude” He recounted this episode in a post-match press conference: “The doctor came, he gave me anti-inflammatories and painkillers. tried to relax the muscle a bit. But it’s hard. You can’t cure what I have like that. But like I said, it’s not easy to leave the tournament, to leave Wimbledon, even though the pain is intense. So strong that she almost bent this monument of will, which we saw, for a moment in the match, put her head in the tarpaulins at the back of the court, as if to ask her body to leave it alone. For the Spanish media Cadena COPE, he clarified: “For a moment, in my head, I thought of giving up”. And then, the natural came back at a gallop: “I just wanted to finish, whatever the result. I obviously prefer to win. So I fought”. And what a grip! It’s hard to give up in the middle of a game. It’s difficult, even if I’ve been thinking about it for a while Returned to a set everywhere, Nadal still had to whip to stay alive in this 2022 edition. Against all odds, since even his father, by unambiguous gestures, seemed telling him to stop the charges: “They were telling me to give up. But it’s hard to give up in the middle of a game. It’s hard, even though I’ve been thinking about it for a while. On the other hand, I’ve given up before in my career. It’s something I hate to do. So I kept trying to play.” And he took it well. Because despite the pain, the loss of the 3rd set and the memories of his defeat in the Indian Wells final against this same Fritz, when he was already injured, last March, Nadal has as often (as always?) defeated. In the last set, despite an unbreathable scenario, he also seemed far from embarrassed, sending powerful forehands as usual, and winning a few anthology points. Stingy with grand declarations in front of the press, the 36-year-old player simply commented: “I am proud of my state of mind and the way in which I managed to be competitive in these circumstances”. Nadal gritted his teeth, Fritz tightened the game: the summary of the finalTaylor Fritz, whose scenario of the meeting recalls that experienced at the Australian Open against the other Wimbledon favorite, Novak Djokovic, the year past, might have preferred not to. Nadal, will he be able to continue when he finds Nick Kyrgios (whom he beat in 6 of their first 9 confrontations), on Friday, in the semi-finals? “I don’t know. I’ll do new exams tomorrow (Thursday). It’s obvious that I’m not the kind of player who has never been injured. I’m used to having physical problems and I’m used to containing my pain and to play with these problems”, was satisfied to answer the double winner of Wimbledon (2008 and 2010), when the question was put to him. Obviously, when comes the question of the package, everyone thinks back to the 2016 edition of Roland Garros, where Rafael Nadal had to retire because of his left wrist before the third round. Relaunched on the subject, he again kicked in touch: “I cannot give a precise answer because if I told you something specific and tomorrow (Thursday) something else happened, I would be a liar…”. In any case, this Wednesday, it was again the gladiator who took over.Wimbledon 2022, Rafael NadalCredit: Getty ImagesWimbledonA Grand Slam first half: Kyrgios remains on his cloud8 HOURS AGOWimbledonGarin, “the tank” also takes his comfortable on grassYESTDAY AT 22:08