TIME TO REST

Abdominal Tear Knocks Rafael Nadal Out of Wimbledon

The tennis superstar decided to withdraw, allowing Nick Kyrgios to proceed to the Grand Slam final.

Tennis star Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from Wimbledon because of an abdominal tear. Although he was clearly suffering from the injury on the court in his quarterfinals match against Taylor Fritz Wednesday, he ended up defeating the American. Due to the withdrawal, Nadal’s opponent in Thursday’s match, Nick Kyrgios, is heading straight to the final. Nadal, 36, was seen practicing earlier Thursday, but his moves were noticeably slower than normal, and he said in a press conference Wednesday he wasn’t sure if he would make it to the next match, ESPN reports. “I have to pull out of the tournament. As everybody saw yesterday, I have been suffering with the pain in the abdominal [area]. That’s confirmed. I have a tear in the muscle,” Nadal said in a press conference Thursday, according to Fraser. Before withdrawing, Nadal was on track to winning his third Wimbledon tournament.