Nadal battles back against Fritz to set up Kyrgios semi-final at Wimbledon

Second seed Rafael Nadal advanced to the last four at Wimbledon on Wednesday following a five-set tussle with the 11th seed Taylor Fritz.

Nadal, 36, winner of the Australian and French Opens this year, claimed the decider in a super tiebreaker after four hours and 20 minutes on Centre Court.

The see-saw battle ended  3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6. 

“A tough afternoon. Not an easy match at all,” said the Spaniard. “In the abdominal, something is not going well.”

Nadal will play the unseeded Australian Nick Kyrgios in Friday's semi-final after the 27-year-old dispatched Christian Garin from Chile in straight sets.

Clashes
Nadal and Kyrgios famously met eight years ago in the last-16. The then teenaged Kyrgios shocked the two-time champion with a four-set victory.

Their last showdown at the tournament came in 2019 when Nadal progressed to the third round following a four-set win.

Nadal said on Wednesday night that he hopes to be fit to play Kyrgios.

In the women's draw, the 2019 champion Simona Halep advanced to the semi-final. The 16th seed beat the 20th seed Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-4 to set up a meeting with Elena Rybakina who saw off the unseeded Australian Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Thursday's other semi-final in the women's singles will pit third seed Ons Jabeur against the unseeded German Tatjana Maria.