Taylor Fritz suffered a defeat against the 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships. However, during the match, Nadal suffered an abdominal injury. The injury later turned out to be much more disastrous, as Nadal withdrew from his semifinal clash with Australian star, Nick Kyrgios.

Subsequently, his withdrawal has brought forth the argument that whether Taylor Fritz should get the chance to appear in the semifinal instead of the Spaniard.

Andy Roddick reacts to Rafael Nadal walkover controversy

Nadal was supposed to square off with the Australian tennis ace on Friday to secure a spot in the finals. However, with him not fit for the match, Kyrgios will get a free pass to the final. Therefore, some tennis fans sided with famous journalists Christopher Clarey when he said, “It happens so rarely, but I still think it’s worth exploring. When a player withdraws this late in a Grand Slam or before a major tour final, the beaten player should be able to take the slot. In this case, Fritz would play Kyrgios as a ‘lucky loser’. The show must go on.”

While the others shared similar thoughts, former ATP world no.1, Andy Roddick vehemently opposed the idea. He tweeted, “No no no no no. You can’t lose in the semis and win a slam. No”

“No. It’s sports. You win or you lose. If you win, you give your body a chance. You can only self diagnose so much during a match. You survive long enough to get proper scans. Scans showed enough damage to not continue. Sucks, but is what it is,” he added.

Read more: ‘Difficult to Imagine..’ – Rafael Nadal Fondly Remembers Roger Federer Immediately After a Physically Taxing Match Against Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon Championships 2022

The 2022 Indian Wells champion, after giving a tough fight till the third set, lost his grip on the match and on his spot in the semifinals. The Spaniard defeated him in five sets of 3-6 7-5 3-6 7-5 7-6(4).

The season so far for Fritz, Kyrgios and Nadal

Taylor Fritz, after suffering initial round exits in the first two warm up tournaments of the grass-court season, played splendidly in the ATP 250 event at Eastbourne. He defeated fellow American tennis ace Maxime Cressy to win the title.

Speaking of Kyrgios, he reached the semifinals of both Germany-based events, Halle Open and Stuttgart Open, before moving to the grass-courts of Wimbledon. Continuing his good form on grass, the controversial Aussie took down some high caliber players such as the World No.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas to book a match with Nadal at the Wimbledon Championships 2022.

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Speaking of the 2-time Wimbledon champion, although he didn’t participate in any of the warm up events, he entered the grass-court Grand Slam as the reigning champion of both the Australian Open and the French Open. Now, with his late withdrawal, the Spaniard loses his chance to secure an elusive Calendar Grand Slam.

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