The tennis world was left in a disarray when news broke out that Rafael Nadal had suffered a seven millimetre abdominal tear in his quarterfinal win over Taylor Fritz. However, according to reports in Spain, the Spanish maverick still ‘wants to’ play in the semi-final match against Australian ace Nick Kyrgios on Friday.

The 36-year-old suffered the injury in the second set of the quarterfinal over Fritz. Nadal had a medical time-out during the quarterfinal match. He was also seen bending down in pain after serving and had been given painkillers for the same.

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“I am used to holding pain and playing with problems,” Nadal was quoted as saying to reporters on Thursday.  “Knowing that, when I feel something like I felt, something is not going the proper way in my abdomen,” he added.

“I had these feelings for a couple of days. Without a doubt, today was the worst day. There Has been an important increase of pain and limitation.”

His father, Sebastian Nadal, reportedly signalled the tennis star to retire from the match. However, despite the pain, he equalised by winning the fourth set and forced Fritz to a tie-breaker at the fifth set. The tie-breaker proved to be fruitful for Nadal as he won with a 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) score and qualified for the semis.

The world no. 4 missed his 12:30 pm GMT practice session at the All England Club, however, practised later in the day with coach Marc López. 

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According to Nadal, he was uncertain whether he would be fit enough to play in the semi-final on Friday against Nick Kyrgios. He also admitted that during some point at the last match, he was unsure whether he had it in him to finish the game.

“For a lot of moments I was thinking maybe I will not be able to finish the match,” Nadal revealed.

Nadal is scheduled to play Kygrios at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday morning at the Centre Court of the All England Club..