Rafael Nadal admirably shrugged off injury to overcome Taylor Fritz as the Spaniard reached the Wimbledon semi-finals with a stunning 6-3 5-7 6-3 5-7 7-5 win.
Nadal took control early but struggled to deal with the power and energy of Fritz, who grew into the game with his confidence clear. The World No..14 had enjoyed his career-best performance at a major tournament at these Wimbledon Championships but his dream run came to an end against the 22-time Grand Slam champion, who will face Nick Kyrgios in the semi-final.
Nadal, who was looking to win his first Wimbledon title since 2010, but Fritz showed maturity beyond his years to navigate a partisan crowd and several injury stoppages to contest the stunning five-set clash. Both Fritz and Nadal were attended to by the physios as they each suffered injuries throughout the mammoth contest.
Nadal, like Djokovic yesterday, originally started quickly as he immediately sealed a break of Fritz’s serve with an emphatic overhead smash at the net. The Spaniard held serve and moved 2-0 up as he appeared to be impressing Rod Laver in the Royal Box.
The Australian was the last man to achieve the coveted Calendar Slam - winning each of the four Grand Slams in a calendar year - and he did so in 1962 and 1969. After Nadal won in Melbourne and on the Parisian clay, he had his sights on emulating Laver - but Fritz began to fight back.
From 3-1 down, the big-serving American - who faced a 0-30 deficit - won four successive points capped off by an easy forehand strike at the net. His revival in the fifth game set Fritz up for the rest of the set as he forced more errors out of Nadal.
Fritz hit a stunning return to break Nadal before he served excellently to move 4-3 up. From there, he dominated Nadal’s serve from beyond the baseline and then secured the opening set 6-3 with three straight aces in the final game to cap off a run of five successive games.
Nadal starts the second set like he did the first by holding serve in style, before once again breaking Fritz. The World No.4 returned to the 3-1 lead he held earlier before it began to go wrong, and his fans feared history was repeating itself.
Nadal suffered three double faults and 10 unforced errors early in the match as it became abundantly clear he was struggling. Fritz took full advantage as he broke the Spaniard before just about holding serve after navigating deuce.
At 4-3 in favour of Nadal, the physio came on after the iconic star signalled to his box that something was not right. He received attention and admirably returned to action, shrugging off the burgeoning abdominal injury to battle Fritz to 5-5 in the second set.
From there, Nadal took control. He held serve before spectacularly breaking Fritz with sensational net play, sealing the second set - the first set dropped by the American at these Championships.
The third set began with more of the same as Nadal started well but the two men exchanged games before the physio was called out again to attend to Fritz rather than the 22-time Grand Slam champion. The American appeared unencumbered though, breaking Nadal in the the third game.
The Spaniard's average serve speed came down from 115mph to 107mph in set two to 102mph in set three. It didn't seem to affect Nadal's ability to hold serve though, until the ninth game of the set where two sensational returns from Fritz saw him take control before a long Nadal forehand gifted the American the set 6-3.
He needed a reaction, and Nadal quickly took control of the fourth set by breaking Fritz’s serve in the opening game. The Spaniard disguised a gorgeous backhand before firing a stunning winner into the corner to complete the break.
However, Fritz didn’t take long to respond and immediately broke back courtesy of Nadal’s physical struggles. Nadal then broke the American and held serve to move 3-1 up, where the two competitors traded games before another break went the way of Fritz.
At 5-5, Nadal broke Fritz before holding serve to love. It was an emphatic moment to ensure it went to a decisive fifth and final set.
The titanic final set saw both men trade games and hold serve, highlighted by a brutal seventh game where the players refused to bow to the pressure placed by the other. Finally, Nadal delivered a stunning forehand that Fritz somehow reached only to see the Spaniard deliver a perfect drop shot at the net to move 4-3 up.
Naturally, Fritz hit back by sensationally breaking the Spaniard's serve before holding his own game to make it 5-4, moving one game away from the Wimbledon semi-finals but Nadal recovered to make it 5-5.
