ennis fans at Wimbledon say they are “devastated” for Rafael Nadal after being forced to withdraw from the grand slam tournament due to an abdominal injury.
The 22-time grand slam champion fought his way through the issue to beat Taylor Fritz in five sets on Wednesday to advance to the semi-finals at SW19, but scans a day later revealed the severity of the injury.
Nadal was ready to play Nick Kyrgios in Friday’s semi-final, but his Australian opponent now gets a walk-over to a first major final.
He announced in a news conference Thursday night that he would withdraw, ending his bid to win all four Grand Slams in a year.
His future opponent Kyrgios paid tribute to Nadal on Instagramsharing a photo of the two shaking hands at the end of a previous match.
He wrote: “Different players, different personalities. @rafaelnadal Hope your recovery is going well and we hope to see you all healthy soon 🗣🙏🏽 see you next time….”
fans reacted with sadness at Nadal’s withdrawal, but also said he felt sorry for Taylor Fritz who narrowly lost to him in the quarterfinals.
Others said they thought it was “unfair” that Kyrgios would go straight to the final on Sunday, while Cameron Norrie and Djokovic will play a semi-final on Friday.
Sinead Goggin, 40, an account manager from Ireland, told the PA news agency she was “devastated” by the news.
She said: “It’s just pure devastation. I’m devastated by him.
“I’m devastated for all the fans and for him,” she added, saying she was sad he couldn’t win all four Grand Slams this year.
“But I’d rather see him pull out rather than annoy himself and hopefully get the rest of the season, but I’m devastated for him and everyone going to Wimbledon,” she added.
Edmund Johnson, 29, a property developer, and Naomi Jackson, 29, who works in a start-up and are both from Wimbledon, said they saw Kyrgios and Nadal play from the stands of the Center Court in 2019.
“We’ve watched them here. It was one of the most amazing matches we’ve seen, so it’s pretty painful not to be able to see that again,” Johnson said.
“I think it would have been an incredible match-up.”
Johnson said he also thinks Kyrgios going to the final will “give him an advantage”.
He added: “I also think if I were Taylor Fritz I would be very sad because you fought away five sets trying to make it to the semi-finals and then your opponent withdrew for the next match.
“So I’d be a little annoyed if I were Taylor Fritz.”
But he said: “I think Nadal is such a competitor that he would do anything to withdraw from the game.”
“If Nadal wants to quit it has to be very serious – to be honest I don’t think I could play tennis with a ripped stomach.”
Issy Young, 29, who works in finance, and her fried Zara Vaughan, 28, a civil servant – both from South London – said in unison, “Oh my gosh” when they heard he had pulled out.
Ms Young said: “He looked in the last game his dad told him to stop and he grabbed his stomach so I wonder if he did more damage.
“I just think he’s just a real competitor – to get through such a difficult game and then have to stop – it must have been a difficult decision.”
Mrs. Vaughan said, “That’s really sad, bless him.”
Of Kyrgios going to the final, she said: “I think he’s had some terrible accusations against him and I don’t want to see him play in person.”
Meanwhile, Oliver Sharon, 30, a social researcher from Leicester said: “First of all I am disappointed as I was looking forward to seeing him play against Kyrgios, especially as it is such a big rivalry.
‘I’m terrified of him. He’s coming to his last years, isn’t he, so I really hope it’s not his last year. I still think he has a lot to give.”
About Kyrgios he said: “It is what it is, isn’t it. I don’t know if it’s fair.”
“It will be very interesting to see him in the final, it doesn’t get any bigger than that,” he added.
Asked about his departure, Diane Skinner, 66, a Wimbledon retiree said: “I didn’t know he’d done that. I knew the Prime Minister had done that.”
“It’s a real shame, isn’t it,” she said.
Her husband Mike Skinner, 66, said: “I was watching the game last night and I was hoping that if he got injured he would stop playing because it seemed unfair.
“Had he stopped then, Taylor would have continued.”
“Nadal had a chance to beat Kyrgios, but he was injured anyway,” added Skinner.
Diane added that she thinks it’s “unfair” for Kyrgios to go straight, but said: “I don’t know what you can do because those are the rules.”
“I just think that’s a shame because Kyrgios serves in 11 seconds each and Nadal takes 30 seconds, so it would have been really interesting.”