WATCH: Rafael Nadal’s father and sister abruptly ask the Spaniard to retire mid-match due to abdominal injury

WATCH: Rafael Nadal’s father and sister abruptly ask the Spaniard to retire mid-match due to abdominal injury

Rafael Nadal and his family

Rafael Nadal survived an injury scare and showed immense fighting spirit to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon for the 8th time. He defeated a spirited Taylor Fritz in five tight sets 3-6,7-5,3-6,7-5,7-6(10-4) to reach a third consecutive semifinal at Wimbledon. This was Nadal’s 19th consecutive match win at majors as he’s undefeated at the grand slams in 2022.

Nadal, despite having a very successful 2022 season, has had to struggle a lot with injuries. He came back to the season after recovering from a foot injury and then, at Indian Wells this year, he suffered a minor rib fracture. In the clay-court season, he had to deal with an ailing foot and now, at Wimbledon, he is having abdominal issues.

During the second set against Fritz, Nadal felt a lot of pain in his abdomen, after which he took a medical timeout and had to leave the court from treatment. He played the match with taping on his stomach and even had to alter his service motion to reduce the pain. There was a time in the match where Nadal even thought of retiring.

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“The body in general is fine. Of course the abdominal something is not going well, I had to find a way to serve a little bit different, for a lot of moments I was thinking I will not be able to finish the match but the court energy was something else,” Nadal said in the on court interview.

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Rafael Nadal’s family asked him to quit the mid-match

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal

Not only Nadal, even his box gestured him to retire when Nadal was in a lot of pain during the second set. Rafa’s father, Sebastian Nadal, and his sister, Maria Isabel Nadal, were telling him to retire. There was a lot of concern in Rafa’s box and the family wanted Rafa to take care of his body first.

But Nadal is one of the biggest fighters in sporting history and he proved why he is regarded that. Despite the pain, Nadal channeled it all to fuel fire in himself and eventually crossed the finishing line.

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Also Read: “I was thinking I would not be able to finish the match” Rafael Nadal credits the centre court crowd for inspiring him to fight back against Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon