Struggling Rafael Nadal survived quintuple blisters: ‘I thought about giving up’

VideoRafael Nadal is still in the title race at Wimbledon. The Spanish superstar, who has physical problems, survived a tough and tiring match on center court against American Taylor Fritz, who eventually fell in an excellent tiebreak. As a result, Nadal is still in the race for the Grand Slam calendar: 6-3 5-7 6-3 5-7 6-7 (3-10).

Math Editor

July 6th. 2022
Last updated:
06-07-22, 23:20

The 22-time Grand Slam winner suffered an abdominal injury that made it difficult for him to move across the sacred lawn in London. The Spaniard was forced to call a doctor for the job several times. The physical harassment and strong play of Fritz, who is number 14 in the ATP rankings, forced Nadal to go to extremes.

On his second point in the match, Nadal finished the match with a forehand, leaving the crowd on the center court in a state of bliss. Nadal, who fought back after trailing 2-1, remained weak throughout the match and was unrecognizable at times. It even looked like he would give up after the third set. It also seemed that Nadal’s father was signaling to him to stop the fight.

Number 4 in the world refused the advice and imposed a fifth set in fact, in which the American broke halfway. However, Fritz immediately broke away from winning by 5-4, 6-5. In the tiebreak of the match, Nadal, who gave softer than usual almost throughout the match, came out with a 5-0 score and during the final points the tension never became.

‘I enjoy playing these kinds of matches,’ Nadal said afterwards. It was a tough time against a great player.” It could have hit him. It looks good now, but I had to find a way to get back into the games. I thought about giving up. For many moments I thought: I will not be able to finish this match, but the audience gave me a lot of energy. ”

So Nadal continues to have a chance to win all of the four Grand Slams this year. Earlier this year, the 36-year-old Spaniard won both the Australian Open and Roland Garros. This brings the number of major tournaments won to 22. This puts him ahead of his rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer (both 20). It is logically unclear whether Nadal’s injury will affect his participation in next Friday’s semi-finals.

Thanks to his victory, Nadal is one of the last four contenders in the fight for the Wimbledon title. Novak Djokovic and Cameron Norrie battle together to see who can report in the final fight, while Nick Kyrgios is too strong for Christian Garin: 4-6 3-6 6-7 (5-7).