‘Disappointed’ Kyrgios opens up on Nadal’s withdrawal: ‘My energy was focused on playing him. Was hoping for…”

Fans had already marked their calendar before the two had even played their respective quarterfinal match which was slated to be held simultaneously on Wednesday. Nick Kyrgios had comfortably beaten Cristian Garin on Court 1 to reach his maiden Grand Slam semi-final while Rafael Nadal battled through an abdominal tear to outs Taylor Fritz in a five-setter thriller on Centre Court. Hence, Wimbledon awaited a blockbuster semi-final and so did Kyrgios, but Nadal, after assessing all conditions, announced his withdrawal owing the injury. And while Kyrgios did leave a message for him on Instagram, he revealed his very first reaction at hearing the news.

It would have been a “third chapter” at Wimbledon in their nine-match rivalry. Kyrgios, who was a Wild Card player in the 2014 edition, had defeated Nadal in the round of 16 to reach his maiden Slam quarters, however, in 2019, the Spaniard had avenged his defeat. Overall, Nadal led 6-3 in the head-to-head tie.

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“My energy was so focused on playing [Nadal] and tactically how I’m going to go out there and play, the emotions of walking out there, all that type of stuff,” said Kyrgios as he revealed that he heard the news while he was having dinner on Thursday.

“But, you know, it wouldn’t have been easy for him to do that [withdraw]. … He barely lost a match this year. He wanted to probably go for all four. So it wouldn’t be easy. I hope he gets better.”

With the news, Kyrgios reached his first ever Slam final, where he will be up against three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic.

“I had a shocking sleep last night, though, to be honest,” Kyrgios said. “I probably got an hour’s sleep just with everything, like the excitement. I had so much anxiety. I was already feeling so nervous, and I don’t feel nervous usually.

He added: “I was just restless. So many thoughts in my head about a Wimbledon final. That’s all I was thinking about. I was thinking just [about] playing, obviously imagining myself winning, imagining myself losing. Everything. … I feel like I’m just a reckless ball of energy right now. I just want to go out on the practice court now and hit some tennis balls and just talk. I don’t know. I want it to come already. Yeah, I want the final to come already.”