Rafael Nadal is not sure if he'll be healthy enough to face Nick Kyrgios in semifinals of Wimbledon on Friday. Nadal suffered an abdominal injury during Wednesday's quarterfinal win (3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6) over Taylor Fritz.
According to MARCA, Nadal has a seven-millimeter abdominal tear, but is still hoping to play against Kyrgios with trip to the tournament final on the line.
"I don't know," Nadal told Reuters on Wednesday when asked if he would be able to face Kyrgios. "Honestly, I can't give you a clear answer because if I gave you a clear answer and tomorrow another thing happens, I will be a liar."
Following Wednesday's quarterfinal triumph, Nadal even admitted that he considered retiring at various points during the match due to the pain from the abdominal injury.
"I just wanted to give myself a chance," Nadal added. [It's] not easy to leave the tournament, [it's] not easy to leave Wimbledon, even if the pain was hard. I don't know. I wanted to finish. I fought. [I'm] proud about the fighting spirit and the way that I managed to be competitive under that condition.
"I am used to holding pain and play with problems. Knowing that, when I feel something like I felt, that is because something is not going the proper way in [my] abdomen. But let's see. I had these feelings for a couple of days. Without a doubt, today was the worst day, has been an important increase of pain and limitation."
Throughout Nadal's win over Fritz, he appeared to be in significant pain. He was even hunched over on several occasions. The 36-year-old star called the trainer over for an assessment during the second set and eventually used a medical timeout to leave the court for treatment for a brief period.
Earlier this year, Nadal battled through significant pain en route to his 14th French Open title, but had to receive injections in his foot prior to each of those matches. Nadal is chasing his 23rd career Grand Slam and third title at Wimbledon.
