American tennis legend John McEnroe acknowledged Rafael Nadal is a great fighter and competitor but suggested the Spaniard might have played his Wimbledon semifinal if the opponent was someone other than Nick Kyrgios. Nadal required an off-court medical intervention for an abdominal injury in the second set of his Wimbledon quarterfinal versus Taylor Fritz.

Nadal was able to finish the match and beat Fritz in over four hours of play but the following day pulled out of his semifinal versus Kyrgios after the scans showed an abdominal tear. “Rafa being the fighter that he always is, decides to play and wins.

Was it going to get significantly worse? I don’t know the answer to that,” McEnroe said on the BBC, per Tennis365. “Could he have played? He beat Taylor Fritz at 80%. He was serving at 100mph most of the match.

[But Kyrgios] is dominating Wimbledon in a lot of ways. His play – some of the goings-on, his history, his talent do you really think Rafa wanted to play him at 80%? Something tells me he didn’t want to do that”.

 

McEnroe suggests Nadal didn’t want to face Kyrgios while not at 100%

Kyrgios, 27, is playing probably the tournament of his life as he has been through to his maiden Grand Slam final at Wimbledon. Also, Kyrgios considers grass as his top surface, while it it not a secret that grass is Nadal’s least favorite surface.

“[Kyrgios] in better shape than I’ve seen in six, seven years,” McEnroe added. “He’s being professional; I love it! He’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever seen – on and off the court.

He’s so smart on the court, he doesn’t even need a coach!” In the Wimbledon final, Kyrgios faces 20-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic. Kyrgios owns a 2-0 head-to-head versus Djokovic but the Serb is the favorite going into the Wimbledon final.