Rafael Nadal comes back from set down twice as he fights injury to reach Wimbledon semifinal

| by Zachary Wimer

Rafael Nadal will be playing in his eight semifinal at the Wimbledon and third in a row after he defeated Taylor Fritz in a dramatic five-set match.

There was only one more semifinal spot left at the 2022 Wimbledon and Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz both showed that they want that place as they fought for more than 4 hours and played all five sets to determine the opponent of dangerous Nick Kyrgios who awaits in the semifinals.

WATCH: Rafael Nadal's father and sister ask him to retire as he struggles with injury
WATCH: Rafael Nadal's father and sister ask him to retire as he struggles with injury

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 re-gain the lead of the match.

It wouldn't be Rafael Nadal if he didn't fight back. At one point, the 22-time Grand Slam champion found himself 3 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 will march towards the victory.

Yet, Fritz fought back one more time and soon found himself as close as three points away from winning once again. Despite his father asking him to retire earlier in the match, Nadal managed to give it one last push to win the match 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(4).

"When we arrived, we weren’t thinking about winning" - Roig on Nadal's chances at Wimbledon
"When we arrived, we weren’t thinking about winning" - Roig on Nadal's chances at Wimbledon

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