Unfortunate news came from the All England Club on Thursday when Rafael Nadal withdrew from his Wimbledon semifinal match against Nick Kyrgios due to an abdominal tear.
The news means that Kyrgios is through to the first Grand Slam final of his career. His previous best results were quarterfinal appearances at Wimbledon and the Australian Open.
Nadal was dealing with the injury as he went into his quarterfinal match against Taylor Fritz, but it quickly became apparent that he was dealing with a serious problem.
By the middle of the second set, Nadal's service speeds had decreased by over 10 miles per hour. Despite this, he was able to gut out a victory over Fritz, who couldn't seem to take advantage of Nadal's clear pain.
At points in the match, Nadal's father, Sebastian Nadal, even recommended to his son that he retire from the match.
Sebastian Nadal telling his son Rafael to quit? #Wimbledon#Nadalpic.twitter.com/L0LiJQQttY
— Simon Häring (@_shaering) July 6, 2022
Nadal had opened as a +120 underdog against Kyrgios, but public and sharp action had driven his line all the way up to +150 before the news of his withdrawal came.
Kyrgios will face the winner of the other semifinal between Novak Djokovic and Cameron Norrie.
As of now, futures odds for the Championships are off the board as oddsmakers react to the news.
