Tennis

‘Baahubali’ Rafael Nadal: The Beginning or Conclusion?

Wimbledon’s official Facebook page has shared a picture of Rafael Nadal after his hard-fought five-set victory over Taylor Fritz with a one-word caption- ‘Baahubali’. It is a reference to the Baahubali series that became the biggest blockbuster in Indian cinema. The two-time Wimbledon champion beat Fritz 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10-4) on Centre Court.

While playing the quarterfinals match on Wednesday night, the 22-time Grand Slam champion had abdominal pain and needed a medical timeout in the second set. After the match, Nadal said he would have “some more tests” on Thursday. He said he’s been experiencing pain for almost a week and that it intensified during the match.


When asked in his post-match news conference about his chances of playing Friday against Kyrgios, Nadal responded: “I don’t know. Honestly, I can’t give you a clear answer.”

Nadal was given anti-inflammatories during his medical timeout off the court. He said the trainer “just tried to relax a little bit the muscle there. But it’s difficult. Nothing can be fixed when you have a thing like this. That’s it.”