Rafael Nadal overcame an injury to beat Taylor Fritz and reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for an eighth time yesterday, keeping alive his dream of a calendar Grand Slam.
The second seed lost the first set and had to take a medical time-out in the second but raised his game to win 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10/4) in a match lasting four hours and 21 minutes. Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, will play maverick Australian Nick Kyrgios for a place in final. He admitted he was suffering from an abdominal problem.
“For a lot of moments I was thinking I would not be able to finish the match but the crowd, the energy, thanks for that,” said the Spaniard. “I honestly enjoy a lot playing these kind of matches in front of you guys. I can’t thank you enough for the support.”
A pumped-up Nadal raced out of the blocks to take a 3-1 lead but then lost five straight games to the 11th seed to lose the first set. The players swapped breaks in the second set but Nadal was not moving freely and when leading 4-3 he sat down on his chair, shaking his head at his team. The trainer came on before Nadal left the court for a medical time-out to treat what appeared his injury.
When he returned, Fritz served out to love, with Nadal’s movement still looking hampered. But the Spaniard twice held serve comfortably to lead 6-5 and a backhand volley into the open court sealed the second set, to roars from the crowd.
Nadal, 36, was now moving more freely but the pendulum swung again early in the third set when the two-time Wimbledon winner double-faulted to hand his American opponent a break.
The trainer returned, this time to attend to strapping on his Fritz’s left thigh and the American resumed playing, breaking again to take the third set.
There were five breaks in a topsy-turvy fourth set as both players struggled for consistency on their serve but Nadal came out on top to level the match.
The first six games of the deciding set went with serve before Nadal produced a backhand dropshot winner to break after a hard-fought seventh game.
Fritz broke back straight away when Nadal netted with a backhand. The set went to a tie-break and Nadal seized control, racing into a 9-3 lead and completing the win on his second match point. Nadal, who has already won the Australian Open and the French Open this year, is halfway to the first calendar Grand Slam by a man since Rod Laver in 1969. He is also bidding to win his 23rd Grand Slam title and equal Serena Williams in second place on the all-time list for most Grand Slam singles titles. Margaret Court is the leader on 24 titles.
Kyrgios defeated Cristian Garin of Chile 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) and the victory came just a day after it was revealed the Australian will appear in court in August after being accused of assault.
“It really didn’t affect me at all, to be honest with you,” said Kyrgios. “Obviously seeing it - I’m only human. I read about it and everyone else was asking questions. It was hard to focus on the mission at hand. It was quarter-finals of Wimbledon today. But it didn’t really affect my preparation at all. I knew I stayed true to myself and gave my best performance today.”
Kyrgios, who shot to fame when he defeated Nadal at the tournament as a 144th-ranked wild card eight years ago, is the first Australian man into the semis at Wimbledon since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005.

‘Best tennis’ Halep to face Rybakina in semi
Former champion Simona Halep said she is playing her “best tennis” as she set up a Wimbledon semi-final clash with Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina.
Halep, the 2019 winner, comfortably reached her third semi-final at the All England Club with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Amanda Anisimova of the United States.
Russian-born Rybakina became the first player representing Kazakhstan to reach a Grand Slam semi-final when she defeated Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
“Definitely this is my best tennis,” said Halep, who missed last year’s Wimbledon with a calf injury.
“I am trying to build my confidence back, and it’s good.”
The Romanian 16th seed, who was also French Open champion in 2018, broke Anisimova’s serve four times in the match, wrapping up victory in just over an hour.  The 30-year-old took charge early in the match on Centre Court, racing into a 5-1 lead and taking the set 6-2.
It was a similar story in the second set, with Halep again dominating and going 5-1 up with a double break. Anisimova dug deep, earning her own break of serve when Halep served for the match but the Romanian stayed calm to serve out for the win.
Rybakina came from behind to reach her first Grand Slam semi-final, firing 15 aces past Tomljanovic, who had also made the last-eight in 2021. “It is amazing. I am really happy to be into the semi-final. It was a really tough match,” said the 23-year-old Moscow-born player.
Rybakina fired five aces in the first set but her 10 winners were cancelled out by her 10 unforced errors. The steadier Tomljanovic did not concede a break point while a single break in the third game was enough to hand her the opener. Back came Moscow-born Rybakina with a triple break in the second set to level the tie.
She swept through the decider and despite being broken when serving for the match in the seventh game, she made no mistake in the ninth with another ace sealing the win.