Rafael Nadal withdraws from Wimbledon semifinal

July 7 (UPI) -- Spaniard Rafael Nadal withdrew from his Wimbledon 2022 men's semifinal match against Australian Nick Kyrgios due to an abdominal tear, he announced Thursday in London.

Nadal was set to meet Kyrgios in the semifinal Friday at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Kyrgios earned an automatic bid into the final due to Nadal's exit.

"I have to pull out from the tournament," Nadal told reporters. "As everybody saw yesterday, I have been suffering from pain in the abdomen and was no OK then.

"It is confirmed that I have a tear in the muscle, in the abdominal."

Nadal underwent tests on the injury Thursday and consulted physicians to determine its severity.

"I made my decision because I believe I can't win two matches under the circumstances," Nadal said. "It's not only that can't serve at the right speed, I can't do normal movement to serve.

"For respect to myself in some way, I don't want to go out there."

Nadal, the men's No. 2 seed, said he "fought" through the issue to beat No. 11 Taylor Fritz of the United States in five sets Wednesday in London.

Nadal took several breaks in his quarterfinal appearance to address his injury, but managed to get through the four-hour, 21-minute marathon match.

Nadal admitted that his dad and sister, who were in attendance Wednesday, told him he should retire from his quarterfinal match, but he decided against that idea.

"It's not easy," Nadal said Wednesday. "I had that idea for such a long time, but I did it a couple of times in my tennis career and I hate to do it. I just kept trying."

Nadal lacked his typical power on serves and movement on returns in his quarterfinal. His top services were about 20 mph slower than usual.

Kyrgios will meet either No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia or No. 9 Cameron Norrie of England on Sunday in the men's singles final.

Djokovic will face Norrie on Friday in the lone men's semifinal.