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Nadal Pulls Out Of Wimbledon
Rafael Nadal’s chances of winning all four Grand Slams in one year are over after he was forced to pull out of Wimbledon through injury.
The Spaniard was set to face Nick Krygios for a place in Sunday’s final but a stomach injury means the Australian will go straight into a showdown against Novak Djokovic or Cameron Norrie.
Nadal struggled with the injury during his five-set quarter-final win over Taylor Fritz and confirmed in a press conference that he would not play on Friday.
The 40-year-old had a chance to become only the third man ever to win all four Grand Slams in a year, after winning the Australian and French Opens.
Nadal insisted that the feat – only achieved by Don Budge and Rod Laver – was not on his mind as he pulled out of the tournament.
He said: “I never thought about the Calendar Slam, I thought about my diary and my happiness.”
Nadal added: “I make the decision because I don’t believe I can win two matches under the circumstances. It is not only I can’t serve at the right speed, it is I can’t do the normal movement to serve.
“After that to imagine myself winning two matches, and for respect for myself in some way, I don’t want to go out there and not be competitive enough to play at the level I need to play to achieve my goals.”
Djokovic is now the overwhelming favourite to win his 21st Grand Slam. He narrowly missed out on all four Slams himself last year, winning three and losing to Daniil Medvedev in the final of the US Open.
/Stewart Sports news editor
