Nadal quits Wimbledon; Jabeur makes African history
Rafael Nadal pulled out of Wimbledon with an abdominal injury on Thursday (Friday, Phl time) after Ons Jabeur became the first African woman to reach a Grand Slam singles final in modern times.
Nadal’s decision -- which hands a place in the men’s final to Australian maverick Nick Kyrgios -- ends his dreams of a completing a rare calendar-year Grand Slam.
Kyrgios, ranked 40, will play either top seed and six-time champion Novak Djokovic or British ninth seed Cameron Norrie, who meet in the remaining semifinal.
Two-time champion Nadal was visibly in pain during his gruelling five-set win against American Taylor Fritz on Wednesday and indicated afterwards that he may not be able to continue.
Spanish sports daily Marca reported that Nadal had a “seven-millimetre” tear to his abdomen but still intended to play.
But the 36-year-old scheduled a press conference at the All England Club at which he confirmed he was pulling out.
“Unfortunately, as you can imagine, I am here because I have to pull out from the tournament,” said the 2008 and 2010 winner.
“As everyone saw yesterday I have been suffering with a pain in the abdominal and something was not OK there. That is confirmed, I have a tear in the muscle.”
Earlier, Jabeur defeated close friend Tatjana Maria in the semis and will play Elena Rybakina in the championship match.
The 27-year-old world number two from Tunisia triumphed 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 while Russian-born Rybakina, representing Kazakhstan, knocked out 2019 champion Simona Halep 6-3, 6-3.