Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships locked horns with the American tennis ace Taylor Fritz. Earlier, they fought for the title that the hard courts of Indian Wells offered. In the finals of the ATP 1000 event, Nadal couldn’t give his best because of a rib injury from the semifinals and lost, as a result. Something similar happened in yesterday’s match as well. However, the outcome was different.

The 22 times Grand Slam champion suffered a troublesome abdominal injury during the match. But this time he managed to push through his pain and outclassed the American, even though his family demanded him to stop.

Rafael Nadal playing against his family’s will

The Spaniard in the middle of the match called his trainer and took a medical break to tend to his injury. During that time, his concerned father and sister demanded him to leave the court. And when asked about if they wanted him to take a medical break or quit the match entirely Nadal said, “No, they told me that I need to retire the match.”

Thereafter he added, “Well, I tried for me. It was tough to retire in the middle of the match. Not easy, even if I had that idea for such a long time. But on the other hand I did couple of times in my tennis career. It’s something that I hate to do. So I just keep trying and that’s it.”

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In the quest for a spot in the semifinals, the former World No.1 lost first set by 3-6 and revived himself in the next by 7-5. Following that, at the expense of the third set 3-6, he secured a victory in last two sets by 7-5, 7 (10)- 6 (4). Next, Nadal will square off with the Australian tennis ace Nick Kyrgios for a ticket to the finals of the Grand Slam.

Nadal’s next opponent

The 36-year-old will meet Kyrgios on Friday in the centre court of London. The Aussie has defeated some high caliber players such as the World No.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach the last four of the tournament. Further, he has dropped just five sets in Wimbledon. And out of the 15 matches Kyrgios has played this year, he came out victorious in 12.

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In addition, according to his records, the former World No.13 has a winning percentage of 67.57 on grass. However, the Spanish legend has dropped only four sets in the event up till now and has a winning 79.17 on the surface.