Rafael Nadal battled injury problems to come from behind twice to reach the Wimbledon semifinals as he beat American Taylor Fritz 3-6 7-5 3-6 7-5 7-6 (10-4) in an epic final set tie-breaker.
Nadal’s quest for a Calendar Grand Slam and a record 23rd major was in serious doubt when he required a medical timeout to treat an abominable issue in the second set.
He admitted in his post-match interview he considered throwing in the towel but after four hours and 20 minutes on cour the 36-year-old somehow came through it.
Channelling the same mentality that saw him come from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev to win the Australian Open back in January, Nadal found his rhythm in the latter stages of the match and saved his best til last in a crucial final set tie-break.
A dejected 11th seed Fritz departed Centre Court to huge cheers as he missed out on a first Grand Slam semifinal appearance. Instead, it’ll be Nadal who takes on Aussie livewire Nick Kyrgios, who sailed through his quarterfinal in straight sets against Cristian Garin.
