America’s Taylor Fritz had a golden chance to beat Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinal of Wimbledon recently. Nadal was struggling with his serve throughout the match as he was suffering from a muscle tear in his abdomen.
The American had put his nose in front after winning the first set and Nadal was forced to take a medical timeout in the second set. However, the Spaniard bounced back stronger in the second set after receiving treatment. In fact, Nadal’s father Sebastian, and sister Mary wanted him to quit but the Spaniard decided not to throw in the towel.
The Spaniard is known for his fighting attitude on the court and he was able to not only beat his abdomen pain but also Taylor Fritz in a thrilling five-set contest. In fact, Fritz had beaten Nadal in the Indian Wells final but he could not go past the veteran.
Fritz said Nadal had the right to pull out but if he wanted to be in the semifinal, he should have beaten the Mallorcan. As Nadal had to pull out of the tournament, which gave a walkover to Nick Kyrgios in the semifinal, many fans believed Nadal should have retired in the semifinals and thus Fritz would have got his chance.
Fritz disagreed with the opinion that he should have taken Nadal’s place in the semifinal. He said on Citi Open Instagram live, “If I wanted to be in the semifinal, I should’ve beaten him. It’s as simple as that. If I didn’t beat him, I shouldn’t be moving on. I don’t deserve to be in the next match. It is what it is. He has the right to pull out.”
The American admitted that he had his chances throughout the whole match but he could not grab them at crucial junctions in the game.
“It was a huge match and I wanted it. I saw early on in the tournament that it could be a quarterfinal and I said, I want that quarterfinal, and I got it, and I played well. I had my chances, could’ve gone either way. It sucks to lose obviously”, said Taylor Fritz.
Fritz admitted that the quarterfinal loss against Rafael Nadal was the hardest of his career.
“This probably hurts more than any loss I’ve ever had,” Fritz remarked, “After the match was over, I was sitting there and I felt like crying, like I wanted to cry. I’ve never felt like that ever after a loss.”
Fritz will now take part in the Citi Open, which will begin on August 1.
