LONDON (Reuters) – Rafa Nadal’s hopes of completing a rare calendar year Grand Slam ended on Thursday when the Spaniard pulled out of his highly-anticipated Wimbledon semi-final showdown with Australian Nick Kyrgios with an abdominal strain.
“I have to pull out of the tournament as I have been suffering with pain in abdominal,” said the 36-year-old, the holder of a men’s record 22 Grand Slam titles.
“I can’t imagine winning two matches with this (pain). For me the most important thing is happiness rather than the title even though everyone knows how much effort I put into this as I can’t risk being out of the sport for two to three months.
“I am very sad.”
Nadal had triumphed at the Australian and French Opens this year and had been hoping to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to complete the calendar-year slam.
Nadal’s withdrawal mean Kyrgios becomes the first Australian to reach the men’s final at the All England Club since Mark Philippoussis In 2003.
(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar, editing by Ken Ferris)
