Nick Kyrgios reaches 2022 Wimbledon Final after Rafael Nadal withdrawal

Nick Kyrgios of Canberra, Australia is in the final of Wimbledon on Sunday. He reached his first career grand slam final when Rafael Nadal of Spain withdrew from the men’s semifinal match because of an abdominal injury according to Guardian Sport on Thursday.

Nadal injured his abdomen early in the match against the 11th seed American Taylor Fritz on Wednesday. However, he persevered and came through with a 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 win in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

This is the second time this year that Nadal was clearly ailing against Fritz. In March, Nadal played the Indian Wells final with a broken rib and ankle sprain, and as a result, missed the next six weeks. Nadal came back for the Madrid Open, of which he reached the quarterfinals, the Italian Open, where he reached the third round, and then won his 14th French Open and 22nd grand slam title overall when he beat Casper Ruud of Norway, 6-3, 6-3, 6-0.

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The Nadal withdrawal means there will only be one men’s semifinal on Friday. That will be between the number one seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia and the ninth seed, Cameron Norrie of Great Britain. Djokovic has won their only prior meeting, a 6-2, 6-1 win in the round robin portion of the 2021 ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.

Interestingly, Kyrgios has won both prior meetings against Djokovic. Both wins came in 2017. The first was a 7-6, 7-5 win in the quarterfinals of Acapulco. The second was a 6-4, 7-6 win in the fourth round of Indian Wells. Meanwhile, Kyrgios is 1-2 against Norrie. Kyrgios’s lone win over Norrie was a 6-2, 6-2 win at the 2020 ATP Cup in Australia.

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