The 22-time Grand Slam tournament winner Rafael Nadal hopes to start tennis training again in a week despite his painful abdominal muscle injury.
“Playing from the baseline shouldn’t be a big deal,” the 36-year-old Spaniard said after his exit from the Wimbledon semi-finals. He said he would certainly not be able to serve for a while. “The positive thing is that I can keep practising from the baseline. That will help me to keep my tournament schedule as I want it.”
Nadal had reported on Thursday night that he had suffered a tear in an abdominal muscle. The withdrawal puts 27-year-old Australian Nick Kyrgios into the first Grand Slam final of his career without a fight.
Nadal wants to play US Open
Nadal expects to take a tournament break of around three to four weeks. This would mean he would return in time for the US Open, which starts in New York at the end of August.
Nadal had already received treatment for the injury and anti-inflammatory medication and painkillers during his five-set victory over American Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals. It was not a mistake to have finished the match despite the injury, he said. “I’m not the type of player and the type of person who looks back after decisions and says, I shouldn’t have done that.”
The Spaniard’s withdrawal means his chance of a dream final against defending champion Novak Djokovic and a first Grand Slam in men’s tennis in 53 years is over. All he needed was two wins at Wimbledon and a triumph at the US Open to win all four major titles of the year like Rod Laver last did in 1969.
