A hurting Rafael Nadal has exhibited heroic mental strength to edge American 11th seed Taylor Fritz in a final-set tiebreaker during a captivating Wimbledon quarter-final to keep his quest for a calendar-year Grand Slam alive.
Struggling with an abdominal injury, Nadal appeared close to retiring midmatch on Centre Court, but found the will to beat Fritz 3-6 7-5 3-6 7-5 7-6 (10-4) in 4h 20m and set up a semi-final showdown against Australian maverick Nick Kyrgios.
Fritz, 24, who beat Nadal in the final at Indian Wells to end the Spaniard's 20-match winning run at the start of 2022, overturned an early deficit to race through the opening set, winning five straight games from 1-3, 0-30 down.
Nadal, 36, who won the Australian and French Open titles back-to-back this year for the first time in his career, left the court for a medical timeout for an abdominal issue, with his father fervently urging him from the player's box to put an end to his misery.
But the two-time former Wimbledon champion paid no heed to the requests and returned to the packed showcourt amid huge applause, breaking Fritz in the 12th game to level the match at one set apiece.
Still struggling while serving, Nadal was broken twice, as the American bagged the third set comfortably.
Not ready to throw in the towel yet, Nadal traded two breaks, before claiming the American's serve a third time to force a deciding fifth set.
With the crowd firmly behind him, Nadal converted his fourth breakpoint in the seventh game to take the lead and stared back at his player's box, but Fritz again broke back to force a fitting 10-point deciding tiebreaker.
The 22-time major winner surged 5-0 ahead in the tiebreaker, then won a 25-shot rally amid raucous applause and converted his second matchpoint with a stinging forehand winner to secure a memorable victory.
Reuters
