Serena Williams is "one of the greatest of all time", says fellow tennis legend Rafael Nadal as the 23-time grand slam winner prepares to hang up her racquet.

The 40-year-old, one of the most decorated players in the history of the sport, signalled her intent to "evolve away" from the game in an interview with Vogue Magazine earlier this month, hinting at her retirement following the U.S. Open in September.

With just shy of two-dozen grand slam singles titles, Williams trails only Margaret Court for the all-time record of 24 crowns, and could equal her in her farewell appearance.

Nadal, meanwhile, lies one behind her after victory in the Australian Open and French Open this year took him clear of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer to 22, though the former's win at Wimbledon has seen him close the gap again.

The duo are set to feature at this week's Western and Southern Open, where Williams will face incumbent U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu, and the Spaniard - who will mark his return from injury - has nothing but praise for his fellow giant of the game.

"She is one of the greatest sports [people] of all time," he stated. "I feel lucky to share a tour for a long period of time with her.

"Of course, from a selfish point of view, it's sad that she's leaving the tour but, on the other hand, we can't thank her enough for all the things that she did for our sport.

"I think she's an amazing inspiration for a lot of people around the world and I think she deserves to choose whatever works for her better at this stage of her life.

"So I wish her all the best. Hopefully, we can keep seeing her around the tour because I always believe that our sport, or the sport in general, is bigger and better when legends are around and she is a legend.

"Hopefully, we can enjoy her in a different way around the tour."

Nadal was forced to withdraw ahead of the Wimbledon semi-finals earlier this year with an abdominal tear, and now faces a potentially nervy run through to the U.S. Open in terms of fitness.

But the 36-year-old is cautiously optimistic, adding: "I hope to be ready. That's what I'm trying to do. Try to be a little more conservative, but I hope I can be ready to play.

"Of course, I need some more days to analyse how things are going in terms of abdominal feeling.

"But things are going well for the moment, so hopefully I can manage to be ready. I'm excited. I want to play tennis again on the tour. I'm having a good season, I'm enjoying it, so I want to enjoy this week in Cincinnati."

Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Canadian Open as the Spaniard has not fully recovered from an abdominal tear. 

Nadal's bid to complete a rare clean sweep of the grand slams ended when he suffered an injury setback at Wimbledon last month.

The 22-time major champion pulled out ahead of a semi-final against Nick Kyrgios, who received a walkover and lost to Novak Djokovic in the championship match.

Nadal was due to return in Montreal next week, but on Friday revealed he will not travel to Canada to play in a tournament he has won five times.

The world number three wrote on Twitter: "From the vacation days and my subsequent return to training, everything has gone well these weeks. Four days ago I also started training the service and yesterday after training, I had a little discomfort that was still there today.

"We have decided not to travel to Montreal and continue with the training sessions without forcing ourselves. I sincerely thank the tournament director, Eugene [Lapierre], and his entire team for the understanding and support they have always shown me and today was no exception.

"I hope to play again in Montreal, a tournament that I love and that I have won five times in front of an audience that has always welcomed me with great affection.

"I have no choice but to be prudent at this point and think about health."

Nadal's withdrawal comes just over three weeks before the US Open gets under way at Flushing Meadows.

Djokovic has also withdrawn from the Montreal event, having been ineligible to enter Canada due to being unvaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.

Carlos Alcaraz has his sights set on climbing to the summit of the ATP rankings after becoming the youngest player to crack the top five since Rafael Nadal.

The Spaniard was downed in the Hamburg European Open final by Lorenzo Musetti over the weekend but nevertheless saw a rise in his stature to a career-high position of fifth.

In doing so, it makes the 19-year-old the second-youngest male to break into the top five this century, trailing only Nadal and bettering Novak Djokovic by a matter of months. 

"It means a lot," Alcaraz stated. "The hard work that I put in every day for reaching my dreams, [number] 1, and little by little I'm reaching my dream.

"Top five for me is pretty amazing and I will keep going to be [number] 1."

Had Alcaraz won in Hamburg, he would have risen to fourth, while other movements in the rankings include a rise to number 31 for Musetti and a return to the top 200 for Dominic Thiem, at number 199.

A dream team of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray will be complemented by Novak Djokovic at the Laver Cup.

Nadal, Federer and Murray had already been confirmed for the 2022 edition of the tournament, to be held in London in September.

And Djokovic, who won his 21st grand slam title at Wimbledon earlier this month, has now joined his fellow greats to add to a formidable Team Europe line-up.

The Serb last competed in the Laver Cup in 2018, and while it is yet unclear if he will be able to feature at the upcoming US Open due to his COVID-19 vaccination status, Djokovic is relishing the chance to play alongside the best players of the modern era.

He said: "It's the only competition where you can play in a team environment with guys that you're normally competing against and to be joining Rafa, Roger and Andy – three of my biggest all-time rivals – it's going to be a truly unique moment in the history of our sport."

"I don't think I could have imagined having these four icons of the sport on one team together," said Team Europe captain Bjorn Borg.

"I know they, like I, appreciate the significance of this moment and will be truly up for it.

"Each year our goal is to win. With Rafa, Roger, Andy and Novak on the team, I like our chances."

The quartet have accounted for 66 of the last 76 grand slam titles won in men's tennis, while one of them held the number one spot every week between February 2004 and February 2022, when Daniil Medvedev ended that run.

Felix Auger-Aliassime, Taylor Fritz and Diego Schwartzman have been confirmed to be competing Team World - led by John McEnroe.

Six players will compete on each team, meaning Team Europe still have two more spots to fill, while Team World have three spare.

Roger Federer won his eighth Wimbledon men's singles title on July 16, 2017, when he swatted aside Marin Cilic to move past Pete Sampras and Willian Renshaw on the all-time list.

The Swiss great spurned match points against Novak Djokovic in the 2019 final, and in all likelihood it will be eight and out for Federer.

To mark five years since that last triumph, when Federer picked apart a blister-hit Cilic, Stats Perform has selected five Wimbledon classics featuring the 20-time grand slam winner.

It would have been easy to select many more, with Federer having won 105 of his 119 singles matches at Wimbledon, but these stick in the mind.

2001: Sinking Sampras, announcing impending greatness

Three years on from winning the boys' singles title, it was a 19-year-old Federer who came to Wimbledon 2001 in pursuit of a first main-draw win. He had lost in round one in 1999 and 2000, to Jiri Novak and Yevgeny Kafelnikov, but his talent was becoming widely known. This time Federer advanced to the quarter-finals, fending off Christophe Rochus, Xavier Malisse and Jonas Bjorkman, before running into the great Pete Sampras in round four.

Sampras had mopped up four in a row and seven of the last eight men's singles titles at Wimbledon, but the American's reign would be ended by the teenage Federer, a sensational 7-6 (9-7) 5-7 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 winner.

The beaten Sampras offered a prescient comment after the match, saying: "There are a lot of young guys coming up, and Roger is one of them. But I think he's a little extra special than some of the other guys."

Federer would lose to Tim Henman in the quarters of a tournament that was won by wildcard Goran Ivanisevic, and in 2002 Federer crashed to Mario Ancic in round one, but from 2003 to 2007 the man from Basle was unbeatable in SW19, lifting the title five years in succession.

This was the victory that made him believe it possible.

2008: Nadal halts Federer charge

Federer's glory run had taken in final wins over Mark Philippoussis, Andy Roddick (twice) and Rafael Nadal, also on two occasions. When it came to the 2008 trilogy clash between the five-time champion and the Spanish youngster, the previous year's five-set title match had pointed to likely fireworks.

In 2007, Federer had fended off a charge from the Spaniard to breeze through the decider, but it would be a different story third time around. Perhaps the greatest Wimbledon final in living memory was capped by late-night drama as Federer, who had not dropped a set until the showpiece match, roared back from a two-set deficit, saving match points in the fourth-set tie-break, to set up a winner-takes-all finale.

Earlier rain delays meant it was 21:15 BST when Nadal crossed the winning line, the clay-court king triumphing 6-4 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-7 (8-10) 9-7 after four hours and 48 minutes of a raging, breathtaking battle to bring to an end Federer's reign on grass.

2009: After one trilogy final, could Roddick defy Federer in another?

Journalist: How would you describe what you did today?

Andy Roddick: I lost.

That press conference exchange just about summed up Roddick's floored state of mind after he succumbed 5-7 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 16-14 to Federer in their third Wimbledon final.

The American played a spectacularly great match over four hours and 16 minutes and yet was still beaten by his long-time rival, whose victory gave him a record 15th men's grand slam title, as 14-time winner Sampras watched on.

Federer served 50 aces that day, many of them in a staggering tense final set, simply refusing to lose.

2010: Saving face against Falla

A year on from the Roddick epic, Federer was plunged into another in round one when Colombian left-hander Alejandro Falla looked like pulling off an upset for the ages.

Falla was the talk of the sporting world when he snatched the first two sets, and the world number 60 had three break points against Federer's serve at 4-4 in the third.

Federer clung on, and in the fourth he again repelled the danger when Falla served for the match at 5-4 ahead. From that point, having spurned glorious opportunities to close it out, Falla faded and ended up losing 5-7 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-1) 6-0.

It was a reminder that Federer can be a scrapper too, winning on off days, refusing to submit to humiliation.

2016: Cilic classic leaves Federer "ecstatic"

This was the quarter-final that fuelled hopes the meeting of Federer and Cilic in the 2017 final would prove to be another Wimbledon masterpiece.

That title match, a year later, proved an anti-climax, but this tussle in the last eight was spellbinding, with Cilic going two sets clear and having three match points in the fourth.

Having beaten Federer in the US Open semi-finals two years previous, Cilic again produced lights-out tennis, only to find the great champion across the net stubbornly refusing to give ground as the match reached its climax.

Federer scrambled admirably to snatch a 6-7 (4-7) 4-6 6-3 7-6 (11-9) 6-3 victory, saying: "I'm ecstatic I was able to come through. It wasn't going well for me, so it was about staying in the match somehow, hoping for his level to drop maybe a little bit, and get a little bit lucky. It was an incredible match."

He could not keep it going, losing another five-setter to Milos Raonic in the semi-finals, but Federer would be back a year later to land his eighth, and surely last, Wimbledon title.

Novak Djokovic has slipped to seventh in the ATP Tour rankings despite winning Wimbledon, where ranking points were stripped in this year's tournament.

Players from Russia and Belarus were banned from competing at the third major of the year due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The ATP and WTA retaliated by stripping ranking points from the event at the All England Club, where the likes of world number one Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev did not feature.

Moscow-born Elena Rybakina, who switched to represent Kazakhstan four years ago, lifted the women's title in the singles competition, while Djokovic triumphed for a fourth straight time in the men's event.

Yet, Djokovic has lost 2,000 rankings points – the standard total awarded to a grand slam singles champion – after winning in SW19 last year, with no such rewards available on this occasion.

That meant the Serbian has dropped from third place to seventh, his lowest position since August 2018 when he fell to 10th.

Djokovic moved within just one major title of Rafael Nadal's record of 22 grand slams, and the Spaniard has jumped up one spot to third.

Medvedev and Alexander Zverev are unmoved as the respective top two after losing just 180 rankings points in the latest edition. Both missed Wimbledon, with the Russian banned and the German still injured.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud and Carlos Alcaraz make up the top six after climbing a place each, while Rublev, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jannik Sinner are the trio behind Djokovic.

Nick Kyrgios appeared in his maiden major final against Djokovic at Wimbledon as world number 40, the lowest-ranked grand slam male finalist since Marcos Baghdatis (54) at the Australian Open in 2006.

Just a day later Kyrgios has dropped five places to 45th in the rankings, losing 90 points from his third-round berth last year. If the ban was not imposed, the Australian would have broken into the top 20.

Cameron Norrie is another loser from the ranking points fallout. His run to the semi-finals at the London major would have seen him climb to eighth, but instead he has to settle for 11th.

Nick Kyrgios revealed he was disappointed to be gifted a place in the Wimbledon final, having been determined to earn his shot at the title by beating Rafael Nadal.

But following news of that semi-final walkover, the Australian was so excited he struggled to sleep.

Kyrgios, speaking to the media on Friday, said he learned of Nadal's withdrawal with an abdominal muscle tear only shortly before the Spaniard announced his decision at a news conference.

While Kyrgios – who enjoys a feisty rivalry with the 22-time grand slam champion – sent Nadal a message on Instagram, he was yet to speak to him.

The 27-year-old had been desperate to beat Nadal, but his respect for his opponent was also evident in his words.

"Honestly, my first feeling was a bit of disappointment," Kyrgios said.

"My energy was so focused on playing him and tactically how I'm going to go out there and play, the emotions of walking out there and all that type of stuff.

"It's not the way I wanted to get to the final. As a competitor, I really did want that match – it was obviously something, as soon as I beat Garin, that I knew Rafa was a high possibility.

"It's just someone that I've had so many good battles with before. We've both taken a win against each other at this tournament, and I really did want to see how the third chapter was going to go.

"You never want to see someone like that, [someone] so important to the sport go down with an injury like that. 

"He's just played so much tennis, he's had a gruelling season, so I just hope he recovers. I'm sure I'll play him again on a big stage."

He added: "But obviously it's exciting to say I'll have a chance to play for a grand slam singles title; after everything, it's pretty cool."

Indeed, so exciting Kyrgios endured "a shocking sleep" on Thursday night.

"I got probably an hour of sleep," he said. "Just with everything, the excitement, I had so much anxiety, I was already feeling so nervous – and I don't feel nervous usually."

Kyrgios was concerned the absence of a semi-final match would knock him out of what has been "a pretty good routine" in his run to a first major final.

"People will say, 'he gets another day off', but it's definitely a shock to the system, having been playing so many matches," he explained.

"You play a match at a grand slam and you know, deep down, that you have one day to wind down, let yourself relax and then go again.

"To have two and a half, three days off... today I'm going to emulate not a match scenario but I'm going to try to have a bit more of an extended practice to try to feel like I'm in that same routine.

"That can throw anyone off. At a grand slam, you want to have those matches, you want to have those competitive juices, you want to have those going, the adrenaline.

"That's just something I'm going to have to go into the final without, that semi-final experience.

"That's okay, I'm going to take the positives, rest my body a bit; it's not bad going in there feeling fresh."

Nick Kyrgios has taken to social media to wish Rafael Nadal a speedy recovery after the Spaniard withdrew from the pair's Wimbledon semi-final through injury.

Nadal appeared to be struggling throughout his epic five-set quarter-final win over Taylor Fritz on Wednesday, and it was later confirmed the 22-time grand slam champion had suffered a seven-millimetre abdominal tear.

The two-time Wimbledon champion then announced his withdrawal from the competition at a news conference on Thursday, saying he doubted his ability to win two matches while enduring the pain.

Nadal's exit means Kyrgios will become Australia's first male Wimbledon finalist since Mark Philippoussis in 2003, and is the first player to receive a semi-final walkover in the competition in the Open Era.

The enigmatic 27-year-old has since taken to Instagram to wish the Spaniard well, writing: "Different players, different personalities.

"I hope your recovery goes well and we all hope to see you healthy soon. 'Till next time…"

The Australian has enjoyed a heated rivalry with Nadal since beating him in their first head-to-head meeting at Wimbledon in 2014, with the pair engaging in a couple of high-profile spats.

Kyrgios will now face either Novak Djokovic or Cameron Norrie in Sunday's final, as he bids to become the first Australian man to win Wimbledon since Lleyton Hewitt defeated David Nalbandian in 2002.

He has embarked on a box-office run in SW19, coming through five-set thrillers against Paul Jubb and Brandon Nakashima, as well as winning a fiery third-round contest against Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Some 6,944 days will have passed since an Australian man played in a Wimbledon final by the time Kyrgios takes to Centre Court on Sunday, though he will look to fare better than Philippoussis did in 2003's straight-sets loss to Roger Federer.

World number 40 Kyrgios is also the lowest-ranked – and the first unseeded – Wimbledon finalist since Philippoussis (number 48), as well as the lowest-ranked grand slam finalist since Marcos Baghdatis (number 54) at the 2006 Australian Open.

Rafael Nadal says prolonging his career is more important than any trophy after withdrawing from Wimbledon ahead of his semi-final against Nick Kyrgios due to injury.

The second seed played though the pain barrier in beating Taylor Fritz in a five-set thriller in Wednesday's quarter-final, but he later admitted he was unsure if a troublesome abdominal issue would clear up in time for Friday's semi-final.

Nadal appeared on the practice courts on Thursday, despite tests reportedly revealing he had a seven-millimetre abdominal tear, though it ultimately proved in vain as he announced at a news conference later in the day that his match with Kyrgios would not go ahead.

While disappointed at being denied the chance of winning a first calendar Grand Slam, having already won the Australian Open and French Open this year, the 22-time major winner feels he had no choice.

"Unfortunately, as you can imagine, I am here because I have to pull out from the tournament," he said. "As everyone saw yesterday, I have been suffering with a pain in the abdominal [area] and something was not okay there. 

"That is confirmed, I have a tear in the muscle and the communication is too late. I was thinking the whole day, I was thinking about the decision to make, but I think it doesn't make sense to go, even if I try through my career to keep going. 

"It is very tough circumstances but it is obvious if I keep going the injury will be worse and worse. I never thought about the calendar slam, I thought about my diary and my happiness.

"I don't want to go out there and not be competitive enough to play at my best. The most important thing to me is happiness over a title."

Nadal showed incredible mental and physical resilience to dig deep and see off first-time grand slam quarter-finalist Fritz 3-6 7-5 3-6 7-5 7-6 (10-4), despite being a set down when calling for a medical time-out on Centre Court.

"I make this decision because I don't believe I can win two matches under the circumstances. It is not only I can't serve at the right speed, it is I can't do the normal movement to serve," Nadal added of his decision to pull out.

"After that, to imagine myself winning two matches and for respect for myself in some way, I don't want to go out there and not be competitive enough to play at the level I need to play to achieve my goals."

Kyrgios will now receive a bye through to a first grand slam final, where either Cameron Norrie or Novak Djokovic await on Sunday.

As for Nadal, he is hopeful of returning to action within "two-to-three weeks", meaning he will have time to get back up to speed in time for the US Open, which begins on August 29.

"My goal is to go to the Montreal Masters [on August 5]," Nadal said. "Injuries are part of my career. I saw myself with options to win the title, but you have to accept things as they come."

Rafael Nadal has been forced to withdraw from Friday's Wimbledon semi-final against Nick Kyrgios, ending his hopes of a first calendar Grand Slam.

Nadal played through the pain barrier in a mammoth four-hour quarter-final clash with Taylor Fritz on Wednesday, regularly being checked over by his physio during a 3-6 7-5 3-6 7-5 7-6 (10-4) win on Centre Court.

The Australian Open and French Open champion admitted in the aftermath of that success he was "worried" about the prospect of having to withdraw from the tournament, adding: "I don't know [if I will be able to play] – I am going to have some more tests, but it is difficult to know."

Nadal appeared on the practice courts on Thursday in a bid to find a way of competing but was unable to serve at full power, and reports said tests had revealed a 7mm abdominal tear.

The 36-year-old's efforts were ultimately in vain as he confirmed he was pulling out at a news conference later on Thursday, meaning Kyrgios advances to a first major final.

Rafael Nadal has been forced to withdraw from Friday's Wimbledon semi-final against Nick Kyrgios, ending his hopes of a first calendar Grand Slam.

Nadal played through the pain barrier in a mammoth four-hour quarter-final clash with Taylor Fritz on Wednesday, regularly being checked over by his physio during a 3-6 7-5 3-6 7-5 7-6 (10-4) win on Centre Court.

The Australian Open and French Open champion admitted in the aftermath of that success he was "worried" about the prospect of having to withdraw from the tournament, adding: "I don't know [if I will be able to play] – I am going to have some more tests, but it is difficult to know."

Nadal appeared on the practice courts on Thursday in a bid to find a way of competing but was unable to serve at full power, and reports said tests had revealed a 7mm abdominal tear.

The 36-year-old's efforts were ultimately in vain as he confirmed he was pulling out at a news conference later on Thursday, meaning Kyrgios advances to a first major final.

Rafael Nadal faced make-or-break tests on Thursday to determine whether he would have to abandon his Wimbledon campaign.

The 22-time grand slam winner aggravated an abdominal injury during his five-set victory over Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals, admitting he had been in pain on court.

It did not prevent Nadal lasting the distance in a stirring battle lasting four hours and 21 minutes, taking the decider on a tie-break.

But Nadal risks having to pull out of Friday's semi-final against Australian Nick Kyrgios if his body is judged to have taken too much of a battering.

Family members appealed to Nadal to give up the ghost against Fritz, but the 36-year-old played on and pulled off a typically gutsy victory.

He confirmed after the match: "Tomorrow I'm going to have some more tests. But [it is] difficult to know. It's obvious that I am a player who had a lot of things in my tennis career, so I am used to have things and I am used to hold pain and to play with problems.

"Knowing that, when I feel something like I felt, that is because something is not going the proper way in abdominal. But let's see. I had these feelings for a couple of days."

Nadal said it was undoubtedly "the worst day" for his abdomen since he first felt a strain, which had required strapping before he played Fritz.

He said there had "been an important increase of pain and limitation", but Italian player Fabio Fognini appeared to question Nadal's injury status when he posted a message in an Instagram story, reacting to a report pointing out the Spaniard's problem.

The message read: "For sure... Guys stop believe in what you read PLEASE."

But Fognini later denied that meant he was questioning Nadal's injury, accusing journalists of twisting his words.

He wrote: "It's time to stop writing and reporting everything that you want in the wrong way. With that I wish Rafa and his entire team a lot of good luck in this Wimbledon final."

Former Spain goalkeeper Santiago Canizares, who now works in the sports media, also weighed in, writing on Twitter: "If there is anyone to believe in this society, it is @RafaelNadal. For many reasons that I am too lazy to cite.

"There are those who doubt his injury yesterday, but one fact does not bear debate: his serve was 30 per cent less than his usual speed ... Usual almost 200 km/h. Yesterday 150/160 km/h"

That did not quite stack up across the entire match, but Nadal's average serve speeds (107mph for first serve, 95mph for second serve) were his slowest of the tournament so far.

Nadal has already won the Australian Open and French Open titles this year, defying a long-time foot problem. Should he play on and win Wimbledon, he would go to the US Open in August with a chance of achieving the first men's singles calendar Grand Slam clean sweep since Rod Laver achieved the feat in 1969.

The winner of the semi-final between Nadal and Kyrgios, should it go ahead as planned, will face the winner of Novak Djokovic's match against Cameron Norrie in the title match.

Rafael Nadal says he does not know if he will be able to play in his semi-final against Nick Kyrgios after aggravating an abdominal injury during his five-set victory over Taylor Fritz.

Nadal, 36, has been vocal about his struggles physically during the tournament, but had been determined to push through the pain in an effort to keep his chances at the calendar slam alive, having already won this year's Australian Open and French Open.

During his quarter-final win against Fritz, family members were imploring Nadal to retire from the match as his clear discomfort appeared to be getting the better of him at times.

He admitted in his post-match media appearance that his condition worsened during the match, saying he will prioritise his health if he has to make a tough decision.

"I don't know [if I will be able to play] – I am going to have some more tests, but it is difficult to know," he said.

"I had these feelings for a couple of days, but without a doubt, today was the worst day. There has been an important increase of pain and limitation.

"I am worried. I don't have a decision. I need to know different opinions and I need to check everything the proper way.

"There is something more important than winning Wimbledon, and that is health."

The winner between Nadal and Kyrgios will face the winner of Novak Djokovic's semi-final against Cameron Norrie in the decider.

Rafael Nadal is hopeful he will overcome an abdominal injury that plagued him during his victory over Taylor Fritz in time for Friday's Wimbledon semi-final against Nick Kyrgios.

The 22-time grand slam winner recovered from behind to edge Fritz 3-6 7-5 3-6 7-5 7-6 (10-4) in a thrilling contest on Centre Court on Wednesday.

Nadal called for a medical time-out in the second set and never fully recovered from the issue, with his movement restricted throughout the four-hour-and-20-minute battle.

However, Nadal showed incredible mental and physical resilience to dig deep and see off first-time grand slam quarter-finalist Fritz and set up a showdown with Kyrgios.

Speaking in his on-court interview, the Spaniard admitted he was not entirely sure he would be able to see out his quarter-final tie after playing through the pain barrier.

"The body in general is fine," he said. "The abdominal [area] is not going well. I had to find a way to serve a little bit different.

"For a lot of moments I was thinking I will not be able to finish the match, but the court energy was something else.

"I honestly enjoy a lot playing these kind of matches, in front of you guys, I can’t thank you enough. It has been a tough afternoon. [Fritz] is a great player, all the credit to him.

"He's been great the whole season. But from my personal side it was not an easy match at all, so I'm just very happy to be in the semi-final.

"I hope to be ready to play it. Nick is a great player on all surfaces but especially on grass, he is having a great grass-court season.

"It's going to be a big challenge and I'm going to need to be at my 100 per cent to have a chance, and that is what I'm going to try to do."

Nadal has now won all eight quarter-finals contested at Wimbledon and is on a 19-match winning run at grand slams – three short of his own record of 21, which he set in 2010.

The victory over Fritz marked only the second time Nadal has won a fifth-set tie-break at a major, having previously prevailed against Dominic Thiem at the 2018 US Open.

It was also the first time since the same stage four years ago, against Juan Martin Del Potro, that Nadal has come through a five-set match at Wimbledon.

He has two days to recover ahead of facing Kyrgios, who had earlier defeated Cristian Garin in straight sets to reach a first grand slam semi-final.

"Tomorrow I'm going to have some more tests. But it's difficult to know [how I'll feel]," Nadal said when providing a further update on his fitness.

"It's obvious that I am not the kind of player that I didn't have a lot of things [injuries] in my tennis career, so I am used to have things and I am used to hold pain and to play with problems.

"Knowing that, when I feel something like I felt, that is because something is not going the proper way. But let's see. 

"It's obvious that today is nothing new. I had these feelings for a couple of days. Without a doubt, today was the worst day.

"There has been an important increase of pain and limitation. I managed to win that match. Let's see what's going on tomorrow."

Nadal leads Kyrgios 6-3 in their previous nine career matches, including victories in two of their three meetings in majors.