Recently, 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal suffered an abdominal injury during his quarter-final match at Wimbledon. As a result, he had to withdraw from the semi-final match against Nick Kyrgios. Many were hoping for a final between Novak Djokovic and Nadal, but the Spaniard’s injury prevented that from happening.
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Meanwhile, former Croatian tennis player Nikola Pilic praised Djokovic for his tremendous win at the Wimbledon Championships. In a recent interview, he talked about the potential outcome if Nadal had played Djokovic in the final.
Nikola Pilic believes Rafael Nadal would have lost to Novak Djokovic if he had faced him
Hall of Famer Pilic spoke about Nadal‘s level at the Wimbledon Championships this year, stating that he didn’t think Nadal had the best of the tournament. “Nadal has not played well at all this tournament. He fought as well as he knows, but I don’t think he would have had a chance if he had played Djokovic in the final. I am very sure of that,” he said in a recent interview. (Translated using Google Translate)
Notably, Nadal was scheduled to play the Australian player Nick Kyrgios in the semi-final. However, he had had to pull out of the match a day before the semi-final. According to the scan results, he had a 7 mm tear in his abdominal muscle and felt pain during practice. As a result, Kyrgios went straight to the final to face Djokovic.
It is worth noting that Nadal faced Djokovic earlier in the quarter-final of the French Open and he beat the Serb in four sets. So, it could have been an interesting match if Nadal had played Djokovic in the final.
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Nadal is eyeing a comeback at the US Open 2022
During the press conference, Nadal spoke about the extent of his abdominal injury. According to him, he could miss three to four weeks of tennis. As we know, the US Open will take place at the end of August, which is just more than four weeks away from now.
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Earlier, he talked about getting ready for the US Open, as he felt confident that he will recover before that. Currently, Nadal is holidaying with his friends and family after a long summer of tennis.