Wimbledon 2022: should Rafael Nadal have given up against Taylor Fritz?
Rafael Nadal can't compete against Nick Kyrgios in the semifinals at Wimbledon 2022. But wouldn't it have been fairer if the Spaniard had given up injured against Taylor Fritz ?
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jul 08, 2022, 06:51 am
There was a scene in the quarter-finals between Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz on Wednesday where father Sebastian seemed to have signaled to his son Rafa: boy, if this doesn't go any further, stop it. In fact, quite a few observers in the stadium believed that Nadal would end the game early if he lost the second set against Fritz. But he hasn't.
Should he have? Do you even have to for reasons of fairness? After all, it was almost foreseeable that Nadal could no longer continue.
In the social networks, the opinion on this question is balanced. Of course it would have been better for the tournament if there had been a second semi-final this Friday. This would probably have been the variant preferred by Nick Kyrgios, who is now suddenly in a major endgame for the first time.
Fritz can't beat the injured Djokovic either
But in all honesty, Taylor Fritz, number 14 in the world, number 9 in the race, wasn't able to beat a Rafael Nadal, who played a free serve for much of the match. That's also an indictment of the American number one. And at the same time testimony to what an incredible legend Rafael Nadal is. Who has now made the only sensible decision for him: namely to rest.
SkyWimbledon2022Article
From Fritz's point of view, history has even repeated itself: Because at the Australian Open 2021 it was Novak Djokovic who was struggling with an abdominal muscle injury. Fritz also lost this match in five sets. The small difference: Djokovic continued to play (although the reported crack was three times as long as Nadal's) and also won the tournament.
Here is the individual tableau in Wimbledon
wimmap