Watch: Rafael Nadal’s big injury warning from father, sister goes viral hours before Wimbledon announcement

Wimbledon 2022 awaited a blockbuster semi-final with two-time champion Rafael Nadal up against Nick Kyrgios. Nadal had scripted a phenomenal come-from-behind win against Taylor Fritz of U.S in a nail-biting five-setter quarterfinal tie on Wednesday on the Centre Court while Kyrgios had managed a rather straight-set win ton reach his maiden Grand Slam semi-final. But hours before the big match, Nadal withdrew from the tie citing abdominal pain, although he had received warning about the same from his father and sister before, a video of which went viral after the big withdrawal announcement.

Nadal was visibly spotted in pain during the first set of the quarterfinal match against Fritz, which he lost before taking a medical time-out. It wasn’t the first time that there was an injury concern pertaining to his abdomen during the ongoing tournament at the All England Club. He wore a strap near the region during his previous match as well but had refrained from talking about the injury post his win in the round of 16.

But things seemed more frustrating on Wednesday with Nadal visibly in pain and was also spotted resting his head on the wall on the side of the spectators’ stand during change of service. It was then that Nadal’s father and sister was seen urging the 36-year-old to retire from the match.

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“My sister and father were telling me to retire. For me, it’s tough to quit in the middle of a match, even though I was thinking about that for a long time. I have done that a couple of times in my career, but I hate doing that. That’s why I kept fighting, wanting to finish the match regardless of the result,” Nadal said after the match.

He had managed to win the second set after the medical tim-out before forcing a decider where he outlasted Fritz in the tie-breaker.

However, a day after the tough quarterfinal tie, Nadal announced that he would be unable to play in the semi-final against Kyrgios following an abdominal tear.