Tennis world erupts over Rafa Nadal photos after Wimbledon withdrawal
Rafa Nadal has sparked debate in the tennis world after he was spotted out on a jet ski just four days after withdrawing from Wimbledon.
Nadal shocked the tennis world on Friday when he announced he wouldn't be able to take on Nick Kyrgios in their semi-final at the All England Club, sending the Australian straight through to the final.
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The Spaniard said he suffered a seven millimetre abdominal tear in his quarter-final victory over Taylor Fritz and wouldn't be able to participate in the semi.
"As everybody saw yesterday, I have been suffering with the pain in abdominal," Nadal said at a packed news conference.
"That's confirmed. I have a tear in the muscle in the abdominal. The communication is too late because even like that I was thinking during the whole day about the decision to make.
"But I think it doesn't make sense to go (on). Even if I tried lot of times during my career to keep going under very tough circumstances, in this one I think it's obvious that if I keep going, the injury going to be worse and worse."
Just days after his sad exit from Wimbledon, Nadal has been spotted enjoying some downtime on the Spanish island of Formentera.
Nadal was seen riding a jet ski and relaxing on his luxury yacht in the Mediterranean Sea.
Leading tennis writer Jose Morgado tweeted the photos on Monday, writing: "Nadal with some jet ski fun days after withdrawing from Wimbledon with a 7mm abdominal tear. I see that as good news for his injury...
"Riding a jet ski isn't just turning an engine on. If he can do it, it's good news."
And while other social media users also saw it as a sign that the injury won't hamper Nadal going forward, some suggested it was a bad look to be out on a jet ski just days after his withdrawal from Wimbledon.
There is absolutely zero shade here. Just hoping for the best.Riding a jet ski isn't just turning an engine on. If he can do it, it's good news.
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) July 11, 2022
It’s no news for his injury which he explained only hurt him when he was serving not when hitting other shots. He withdrew because he said he can’t win 2 tough matches without a serve. He said he would not be able to practice serves for several weeks. When he can, it will be news
— Sandy (@nycsandygirl) July 11, 2022
He’s not doing much effort and one thing is playing tennis. Every serving movement is awful. If he was capable he would play. He would win Kyrgios in 4 games at most.
— Barbara (@babs_monteiro) July 11, 2022
His injury will heal pretty quickly. Problem was playing with it could’ve resulted in a much larger tear causing him to need surgery and knock him out for months.
— Ⓜ️𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝔻𝕚𝕕𝕕𝕪 (@V_Cat1) July 11, 2022
Bouncing on dem waves really great for an ab tear 😒
— JRL (@Hnkt7283) July 11, 2022
Sad to read this. I hate jet skis.
Wish Rafa would go sailing, windsurfing, canoeing…
Anything non motorised and not inane like like jet ski riding.— Mike/Wiltshire /UK (@mpscomms) July 11, 2022
Rafa Nadal's devastating withdrawal from Wimbledon
After agonising about his withdrawal, Nadal said he finally decided to pull out after accepting he had no hope of winning the Wimbledon title for a third time.
"I believe that I can't win two matches under these circumstances," said Nadal, who reigned at the All England Club in 2008 and 2010.
"I can't serve. Is not only that I can't serve at the right speed, it's that I can't do the normal movement to serve.
"I have to say that, (I cannot) imagine myself winning two matches and, for respect to myself in some way, I don't want to go out there, not be competitive enough to play at the level that I need to play to achieve my goal."
The setback came after Nadal only made it to Wimbledon at the last minute after overcoming a chronic foot injury that made his French Open triumph even more incredible.
"As I always said, for me the most important thing is happiness more than any title, even if everybody knows how much effort I put to be here," he said.
"But I can't risk that match and stay two, three months outside of the competition because that's going to be a tough thing for me."
Nadal's withdrawal made Kyrgios the first player in history to make a Wimbledon final as a result of a walkover.
The Aussie managed to take the first set off Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final before eventually going down in four sets.
with AAP
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