Wimbledon: Injured Rafael Nadal stages remarkable recovery to beat Taylor Fritz in marathon quarter-final

An injured Rafael Nadal somehow managed to continue his quest to secure a historic Calendar Slam in 2022 after he roared back to beat Taylor Fritz in a marathon quarter-final.

It took all of Nadal’s famous mental strength and physical resilience to come through the encounter with a scoreline of 3-6 7-5 3-6 7-5 7-6 to reach the semi-finals.

The Spaniard suffered an abdominal strain that left him in real pain midway through the second set after he had lost the first to the American, 6-3, despite taking an early break of serve.

The second seed, who was looking to win his third Grand Slam singles title in succession after his incredible triumphs at the Australian Open and French Open already this year, took a medical timeout at 4-3 up in the second set.

He managed to return to the court after leaving to receive treatment in the locker room, but he was not able to move freely and it appeared to be only a matter of time until the inevitable handshake at the net.

Nadal showed his usual determination and resolve and attempted to keep the points short, throwing everything he could at the American from the back of the court.

Incredibly, the 36-year-old somehow managed to win the second set after all of his struggles minutes earlier as he suddenly stamped his authority on proceedings from 5-5 to stun Fritz.

While Fritz restored his advantage by winning the third set, Nadal again produced an astonishing recovery as he won the fourth set 7-5 before holding himself together to win the extraordinary match in a final set tie-break after four hours.

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