Wimbledon | Nadal says his health comes first

Rafa Nadal has revealed there is a question mark over whether he will face Nick Kyrgios in the Wimbledon semi-finals.

Nadal battled through an abdominal strain to beat American Taylor Fritz in the last eight, ignoring pleas from his family to retire because he “hated” quitting.

But the two-time champion and second seed was unsure whether he would hand Kyrgios a walkover into the decider.

At his press conference following his five-set victory over Fritz, when quizzed over whether he would face Kyrgios in his bid to achieve the third leg of the Calendar Grand Slam, he said: “I don’t know. I’m going to have some more tests.

“It is difficult to know. I am used to have things and I am used to having pain and playing with problems. Let’s see. It’s obvious that this is nothing new. I had these feelings for a couple of days.

“Without a doubt, this was the worst day. There has been an important increase of pain and limitation. I can’t give you a clear answer because if I gave you a clear answer and then another thing happens, I will be a liar.”

And he added that he would love a third Wimbledon title but that his “health” comes first.

Mats Wilander, the former world No.1, said: It’s impossible to say (with Nadal will be fit), but I remember we did a famous interview on Phillippe-Chatrier after the final a few weeks ago and he said he had a couple of injections in his foot and his foot was put to sleep.

“Can you do that with your abdominal muscles? Maybe he can still figure out a way to serve at a decent speed? I am assuming he is not going to hit any tennis balls tomorrow and he’s going to take it very easy and recover.

“Who is the nightmare opponent when you are feeling like this? Novak Djokovic (who plays Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the other semi-final), yes. But also Nick Kyrgios. It’s the worst news ever.”

Talking on Eurosport, he added: “With Nick Kyrgios, we never talk about the way he moves because he doesn’t play that many matches – he moves incredibly well. He’s a great athlete, the hands that he has, and the shot-making skills were absolutely incredible. There was very little talking to his box, he was very controlled.”