“I have to withdraw from the tournament,” Nadal said during a press conference on Thursday. “I have a torn (abdominal) muscle.” Nadal said he spent the day thinking about what to do, but decided it wouldn’t make “sense” to continue. “If I continue, the injury will get worse and worse,” he said, adding how “sad” he felt about it. Nadal hinted that part of his decision was based on the fact that he would have to win two matches, the semi-final and the final, to win the championship. “I think I can’t win two matches,” he said. “I don’t want to go out there and not be competitive enough to play at the level I need to to achieve my goal with a big chance to make things a lot worse.” Nadal said he expected a three to four week recovery and looked to return to compete in the upcoming tournaments as expected. The Spaniard said the injury had been bothering him for about a week, but it worsened during his grueling quarter-final match against Taylor Fritz on Wednesday. Although he came through, winning 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6, he appeared to struggle with an abdominal injury at times. On more than one occasion, Nadal was hunched over after a shot and holding his waist. The two-time Wimbledon champion called the coach for an assessment in the second set, before eventually using a medical time-out and leaving the court for treatment. “Thank you for another year of memorable moments at The Championships.” Earlier this year, Nadal overcame the pain barrier to win a 14th French Open title by getting injections in his leg before each match. In a post-match press conference at Roland Garros, Nadal said his 21-year career had left him enduring pain “every day”. CNN’s Matias Grez contributed to this report.
