LONDON (AFP) – Rafael Nadal conjured up a mesmerizing five-set recovery from a potentially tournament-ending injury on Wednesday to reach an eighth Wimbledon semifinal, where he will take on Australian firebrand Nick Kyrgios.
Second seed Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion, defeated Taylor Fritz of the United States, 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10/4) in a match lasting four hours and 21 minutes.
Kyrgios reached his first Grand Slam semifinal by racing to a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) win over Cristian Garin of Chile.
Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, suffered from an abdominal problem that forced him to take a medical timeout in the middle of the second set.
He looked in discomfort for significant parts of the match but came out on top as he kept his bid alive for the first men’s calendar Grand Slam since 1969.
“For a lot of moments I was thinking I would not be able to finish the match but the crowd, the energy, thanks for that,” said the Spaniard.
“I honestly enjoy a lot playing these kind of matches in front of you guys. I can’t thank you enough for the support.”
Kyrgios, who shot to fame when he defeated Nadal at the tournament as a 144th-ranked wild card eight years ago, is the first Australian man into the semi-finals since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005.
The richly talented but deeply divisive Kyrgios last made a Slam quarter-final seven years ago in Australia.
Nadal, 36, leads his series with Kyrgios 6-3, including avenging his 2014 loss in a stormy clash at Wimbledon in 2019.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic and Britain’s Cameron Norrie will meet in the other men’s semifinal.
– Halep’s ‘best tennis’ –
In the women’s competition, 2019 champion Simona Halep and Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina set up a clash for a place in the final.
Halep said she was playing her “best tennis” after comfortably reaching her third semi-final at the All England Club with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Amanda Anisimova of the United States.
Russian-born Rybakina became the first player representing Kazakhstan to reach a Grand Slam semi-final when she defeated Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, ranked second in the world, will take on unseeded German Tatjana Maria in Thursday’s other semi-final.
