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During the early stages of his Wimbledon quarterfinal against American Taylor Fritz, it looked to all the world like Rafael Nadal might retire from the match.

Bothered by an abdominal injury, he sat in his chair with his head in his hands. He called for the trainer. His family and friends in his player box looked concerned. Nadal did not seem right.

But if tennis fans have learned anything over the past two decades, it is never to underestimate Rafael Nadal. Never count him out.

The 36-year-old Spaniard rebounded and ultimately knocked off Fritz in five sets, 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(4) across 4 hours, 20 minutes to reach the Wimbledon semifinals. Nadal has won 19 straight major matches this year after winning the Australian and French Opens in the same calendar year for the first time in his career. Nadal improved to 4-0 in five-setters in 2022.

“It’s obvious that it have been a tough afternoon against a great player so all the credit to Taylor that he is playing great during the whole season,” Nadal said.

“For my personal side, it was not an easy match at all so just very happy to be in the semifinals, no? That’s all.”

Nadal now stands two match wins from his third Wimbledon title and his 23rd major championship. His chief rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are tied at 20 apiece. But he faces a tricky path going forward.

Asked about his abdominal injury, Nadal said, “Well, the body is generally fine. Of course in the abdominal something is not going well. Being honest. Yeah, I had to find a way to serve a little bit different. Yeah, for a lot of moments I was thinking maybe I will not be able to finish the match but the court, the energy is something else. So thanks.”

Nadal will next face mercurial Australian star Nick Kyrgios in the semis on Friday after Kyrgios prevailed in straight sets over Cristian Garin of Chile. Nadal holds a 6-3 edge on Kyrgios and has won three straight, but they have split two matches at Wimbledon.

“First thing, I hope to be ready to play it, that’s the first thing,” Nadal said. “Then Nick is a great player on all surfaces but especially here on grass. He is having a great grass court season. It’s gonna be a big challenege and I need to be at my 100 percent to keep having chances and that’s what I gonna try to do.”

In the tiebreak, Nadal got an early mini-break with a vicious passing shot that Fritz lunged to reach before hitting it long. He quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead.

He smacked a forehand winner up the line to earn a slew of match points at 9-3. He closed it out on his serve with a forehand winner and then met Fritz at the net.

Nadal has dealt with multiple injuries during his magnificent 2022, including a fractured rib that hampered him when he lost to Fritz in the Indian Wells final in March. He then had to get injections during the French Open to numb his foot so he could play on it as he won his 14th Roland Garros title and 22nd Grand Slam crown.

Still, he said he felt much better coming into Wimbledon and had looked as overpowering as ever through the first four rounds.

Nadal raced out to an early 3-1 lead but was clearly not himself soon after the match begun. Fritz won five straight games — and 11 of the final 12 points — to close out the first set.

In the second set, Nadal showed signs of dealing with a lower abdominal injury. He sat in his chair and put his head in his face and looked out of sorts.

Up 4-3, he left the court to see the trainer and presumably get painkillers of some sort. After he regrouped, he closed out the second set and hit a backhand volley winner to even the match at one set apiece.

When Nadal sprayed a forehand wide on double-set point in the third, Fritz seized a two-sets-to-one lead.

Nadal then called for the trainer again.

After winning the fourth set to tie it at two apiece, Nadal left the court again.

He regrouped, won the final set and remains alive for history.