"I'm completely amazed" - Wilander on Nadal's resolve through abdominal tear

Eurosport's Mats Wilander has said he is "completely amazed" by Rafael Nadal managing to come through his quarter-final with Taylor Fritz despite having reportedly suffered a 7mm abdominal tear.

The Spaniard somehow managed to continue his quest to secure a historic Calendar Slam in 2022 after he roared back to beat Fritz in a marathon quarter-final. It took all of Nadal's famous mental strength and physical resilience to come through the encounter with a scoreline of 3-6 7-5 3-6 7-5 7-6 to reach the semi-finals.

On that, Wilander said:

"Nadal is very talented tactically. I think he knew that he could still beat Taylor Fritz despite the injury, even if he’s not 100 per cent physically. But at the same time, not being 100 per cent physically means you can hit the ball better because you are more relaxed and it’s clearer to you about how you need to play: you can’t hit hard first serves, so have to put it in play, and then work the point from there. I’m completely amazed because I thought he was going to retire towards the end of the first set. He somehow won the second, and then it seemed like he was getting better."

Wilander further added:

"The most important part is that it didn’t affect his running. That’s the biggest difference when you’re injured: if you can’t run, it’s difficult to finish the match. You can get used to playing with pain and not being 100 per cent. That, I think we can all get used to. The difference is believing whether you still have a chance of winning. It’s very easy to find an excuse. Rafa somehow finds the intensity to win the match even though he’s not 100 per cent. The humility of playing his opponent. it’s not the quarters of Wimbledon, it’s not the Centre Court, it’s just him and Taylor Fritz, and he feels like he can deal with this guy, even if he’s not 100 per cent.”