Rafael Nadal reacts to overcoming injury and winni

Rafael Nadal admitted it was "a tough afternoon" for him at Wimbledon but he was glad that he was able to escape with a thriller win over Taylor Fritz. On Wednesday, Nadal had to overcome a tough opponent and an abdominal injury.

In the second set, Nadal required an off-court medical intervention for an abdominal injury. After returning to the court, Nadal's serve was clearly affected but still he was able to recover and beat Fritz 3-6 7-5 3-6 7-5 7-6 (4).

“It was a tough afternoon against a great player," said Nadal in his on-court interview, per the ATP website. "All the credit to Taylor, he has been playing great during the whole season. From my personal side, it was not an easy match at all, so I’m just very happy to be in the semi-finals.

The body in general is fine. In the abdominal [area] it is not going well, being honest. I had to find a way to serve a little bit differently, for a lot of moments I was thinking maybe I would not be able to finish the match, but I don’t know.

In the Wimbledon semifinal, Nadal faces a very familiar face - Kyrgios. Nadal is set to have scans on Thursday and there's fear he might be forced to withdraw from the semifinal versus Kyrgios.

“I hope to be ready to play," said Nadal. "Nick is a great player on all surfaces, but especially here on grass. He’s having a great grass-court season and it’s going to be a big challenge. I need to be at 100% to keep having chances and that’s what I am going to try to do”.

Nadal is playing at Wimbledon for the first time since 2019 and he is aiming to win his first title at The Championships since 2010.