Nadal, despite injury, defeats Taylor Fritz in five sets to reach the eighth Wimbledon semi-final
After losing the first set and taking a medical time-out in the second, the second seed won 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10/4) after four hours and twenty-one minutes of play.
Nadal reached the Wimbledon semi-finals for the eighth time on Wednesday, keeping alive his dreams of a calendar Grand Slam.
He beat Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals and now has a chance to win a calendar Grand Slam. The second seed lost the first set, had to use a medical timeout in the second, but came back to win 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10/4) after a four-hour, 21-minute match.
Nick Kyrgios and Rafael Nadal will face off in Sunday’s final. Nadal is a 22-time Grand Slam champion.
Nadal, despite injury, defeats Taylor Fritz in five sets to reach the eighth Wimbledon semi-final
Despite defeating American Taylor Fritz in the Wimbledon semi-finals, Rafael Nadal’s chances of completing the calendar Grand Slam are still alive.
In a stunning 6-3 5-7 6-3 5-7 7-5 victory over Taylor Fritz, Rafael Nadal shrugged off injury and reached the Wimbledon semi-finals.
Despite taking control early on, Nadal was unable to handle the power and energy of Fritz. Fritz’s confidence was evident as he grew into the match. In the semi-finals, World No.14 will face Nick Kyrgios, who had already enjoyed his best performance since winning a Grand Slam in 2004.
The four-set match ended in a stunning five-set win for Fritz over Nadal, who was looking to win his first Wimbledon title since 2010. Fritz and Nadal each suffered injuries during the mammoth match, which was attended to by the physios.
A powerful overhead smash at the net by Nadal sealed a break of Fritz’s serve, just like Djokovic did yesterday. As Rod Laver looked on in the Royal Box, the Spaniard maintained serve and moved 2-0 ahead.
Achieving a Calendar Slam-winning each of the four Grand Slams within a calendar year – was the last feat achieved by an Australian, who did it in 1962 and 1969. The Spaniard had his sights set on emulating Laver after winning in Melbourne and on the Parisian clay – but Fritz began fighting back.
He won four consecutive points after being 0-30 down at 3-1 before clinching the match with an easy forehand strike. Fritz continued to force errors out of Nadal throughout the remainder of the set after his revival in the fifth game.
With an excellent serving performance, Fritz broke Nadal and moved 4-3 ahead. During the fifth consecutive game, he beat Nadal’s serve from beyond the baseline to win the opening set 6-3.
As in the first set, Nadal starts the second set by holding serve in style, before breaking Fritz once more.
World No.4 returned to the lead he had earlier, but things began to go wrong, and his fans feared this would be a repeat of the past.
Early in the match, it became evident that Nadal was struggling as he committed three double faults and 10 unforced errors. The Spaniard was unable to hold his serve after navigating deuce, so Fritz took full advantage.
In the fourth round, Nadal signaled to his box that something wasn’t right when the physio came on. In the second set, he battled Fritz to 5-5 despite suffering a burgeoning abdominal injury.
The rest was up to Nadal. After holding serve, he stunningly broke Fritz with sensational net play, sealing the second set – the first set the American had lost.