Rafael Nadal comes back from set down twice as he fights injury to reach Wimbledon semifinal
ATP
Rafael Nadal will be playing in his eighth semifinal at Wimbledon and his third in a row after he defeated Taylor Fritz in a dramatic five-set match.
There was only one more semi-final spot left at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, and Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz both showed that they wanted that place as they fought for more than four hours and played all five sets to determine the opponent of dangerous Nick Kyrgios, who awaits in the semi-finals.
Despite the flawless start from the Spaniard and early 3-1 lead, his opponent didn't give him any point for free in the first set, and it paid off. Fritz managed to get two breaks and win the first set 6-3.
In the second set, Nadal got the first break once again but was again broken back. However, this time, he managed to add another break and the one that gave him a 7-5 win to level the score of the match.
But the American then played probably his best set of the match when he didn't face any breakpoints and when he had some, he was ruthless. Fritz broke Nadal's serve twice in the third set and won it 6-3 to regain the lead of the match.
It wouldn't be Nadal if he didn't fight back. At one point, the 22-time Grand Slam champion found himself three points away from losing in the fourth set but won 12 out of the last 15 rallies to win the fourth set 7-5 and level the score once more.
The great fight didn't stop in the fifth set. Fans on the Centre Court didn't see any breakpoints until the seventh game when the Spaniard managed to break his opponent, and it seemed that he would march towards victory.
Yet, Fritz fought back one more time and soon found himself as close as three points away from winning once again. Despite Nadal's father asking him to retire earlier in the match, the Spaniard managed to give it one last push to win the match 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(4).
