Rafael Nadal battled through adversity on several occasions during Wednesday’s quarterfinal match at Wimbledon. Despite trailing by a set two different times, Nadal managed to defeat No. 11-seeded Taylor Fritz 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6.
Nadal was able to top Fritz 10-4 in the tiebreaker to advance to the Wimbledon semifinal, despite battling through an obvious abdominal injury throughout the match. With the win, Nadal has advanced to his 38th major semifinal and his eighth major semifinal at Wimbledon.
In 2022, Nadal has won 19 consecutive major matches.
Wednesday’s victory brought Nadal’s record in five-set matches up to 26-13. The Spanish star also has a 7-4 mark in five-set matches at Wimbledon over the course of his career.
The 36-year-old star dropped the first and third sets, but still managed to come back and win the ensuing sets. Nadal also got everything he could handle from Fritz in the decisive fifth set, as he was forced to win in the tiebreaker.
Fritz held a 5-4 advantage in the fifth set before Nadal battled back to tie it on a beautiful drop shot. Fritz rebounded to take a 6-5 lead, but Nadal won four of the next five points in the ensuing game to tie the match 6-6 — and displayed some significant emotion in doing so.
Nadal is seeking his third career Wimbledon title (and first since 2010), but standing in his way next is Nick Kyrgios in the semifinal on Friday.
