Injured Nadal pulls out of Wimbledon semi-final against Kyrgios

Nadal had won the first two grand slam tournaments of the year for the first time in his career and he had arrived in the semi-final with a 19-match winning streak at major events. However, he was forced to admit defeat in his battle to be fit after suffering an abdominal tear early on in his last-eight encounter with Fritz.

After undergoing scans on Thursday morning, Nadal returned in the afternoon for a delayed training session at Aorangi Park. Nadal worked on his groundstrokes but he only tentatively practised his serve and he attempted to adjust his motion to suit the injury. Afterwards, he and his team had a sombre discussion on the court.

After all of the work to recover in time for Wimbledon and the positive progress he made with his foot, a new injury forced him out.

Despite the immediate pain of his withdrawal, Nadal was hopeful about the future. He said that the injury will last three to four weeks but that he should be able to return to the courts and resume his training, without serving, within the next week. He does not believe that his planned schedule will be disrupted as the tour moves to the North American hard court season.

After years of attention and discussion surrounding him, Kyrgios has reached a grand slam final for the first time in his career, where he will face either Novak Djokovic or Cameron Norrie. Kyrgios is the first player in the open era to reach a grand slam final with a walkover and the first Australian to play for a major title since Mark Philippoussis in 2003.