“I still believe that he can be beaten; Only, you have to go down to hell to achieve it” - Taylor Fritz after his Wimbledon QF defeat to Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal overcame an abdominal injury to beat Taylor Fritz in five sets in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships on Wednesday. After four hours and 21 minutes of enduring pain to beat the American 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10-4), Nadal is through to yet another semifinal at SW19.
After losing the first set, the Spaniard took a medical timeout and doubted if he could finish the match on Center Court. However, the 36-year-old stuck in and gave it his all, winning the marathon match in the fifth set tiebreak.
The defeat left Fritz feeling the worst he ever had after a loss, with the Indian Wells champion failing to dominate his physically struggling opponent.
“Very tough game. I've done things wrong and things right. Perhaps, in certain phases of the game, I should have done more. I let him be the one to take the initiative, on many occasions. Probably, this loss is the one that hurts the most of all the ones I've had [in my career]. When the match was over, I felt like crying. I wanted to cry. I have never felt this after a loss,” Fritz said, speaking in his post-match press conference.
Centre Court salutes you, @Taylor_Fritz97 👏
#Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 https://t.co/xNO2ITrvlu
The American, who beat the Mallorcan earlier this year to claim the Indian Wells title, believes that while legends like Nadal can be beaten, it will need monumental efforts from his opponents.
“There [in Indian Wells], I really believed that I could beat him. It all depends on the attitude you have. These guys are very good at the Slams. To beat them, you also have to beat the name, believing you can do it. It is a difficult fence to overcome, but I still believe that they can be beaten. Only, you have to go down to hell to achieve it,” Fritz stated.
While the 24-year-old is happy to have reached the quarterfinals in London, he exited the tournament with thoughts of what could have been.
“In the end, I made it to the quarterfinals here. It's good, it's a great achievement and I'm happy, but really, I wanted this game. It's hard to see anything positive now because I really wanted this win. My biggest options were in the three times he served to stay in the game. I needed to have done more in those games. I didn't make him hesitate or pressure him,” Fritz said.
“Today is nothing new, I had these feelings for a couple of days” - Rafael Nadal on his abdominal issues in the win against Taylor Fritz
Rafael Nadal is one match away from the Wimbledon final, with Nick Kyrgios standing in his path. The Australian beat Cristian Garin 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(5) earlier on Wednesday to enter a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time in his career.
However, Nadal has no idea if, after his grueling five-setter, he will be able to play the Australian on Friday.
“Tomorrow I’m going to have some more tests. But [it is] difficult to know. It's obvious that I am a player who had a lot of things in my tennis career, so I am used to these things and I am used to holding pain and to play with problems. Knowing that, when I feel something like I felt, that is because something is not going the proper way in abdominal,” Nadal explained.
25 shots of pure tennis theatre 🎭
@RafaelNadal 🤝 @Taylor_Fritz97
#Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 https://t.co/KwZg3hpOye
The 22-time Major winner also admitted that he has been struggling with the issue for a few days now.
“But let's see. It's obvious that today is nothing new. I had these feelings for a couple of days. Without a doubt, today was the worst day. Have been an important increase of pain and limitation. And that's it. I managed to win that match. Let's see what's going on tomorrow,” Nadal said.