Rafael Nadal gets into the Ibiza spirit while recovering from injury that forced him out of Wimbledon
Posted by  badge Boss on Jul 16, 2022 - 12:07AM
Rafael Nadal having fun with friends in the Ibiza sunshine (Picture: Splash News)

star looked in good spirits while holidaying with friends in Ibiza just a week after pulling out of the semi-final.

Nadal, 36, missed the crunch match against eventual Nick Kyrgios due to an abdominal injury, handing Kyrgios a walkover into the final.

He picked up the injury during his quarter-final clash against number 11 seed Taylor Fritz – a match that went the distance, as Nadal won a fifth set tie-break.

However, it’s clear from new pictures that Nadal hasn’t let the injury dampen his spirits much, as he took to the beaches of the famous Mediterranean island.

Nadal was spotted jumping off a boat onto his friend’s back who carried the tennis ace to shore, avoiding getting his shoes soaked.

The Spanish tennis star, who has won a record-breaking 22 Grand Slam titles over the course of his career, was spotted in a navy blue T-shirt and navy swim shorts.

The tennis ace leapt onto his mate’s back from the boat (Picture: GTres / SplashNews.com)
Nadal on holiday with his friends in Ibiza after Wimbledon withdrawal (Picture: GTres/SplashNews.com)

He then joined up with two more of his friends as the four pals arrived on shore.

Nadal was on track to win all four Grand Slams in 2022, after his victories at the and the , but was unable to continue at Wimbledon.

He had looked to be hitting top form, breezing through his 3rd and 4th round matches in straight sets.

But complications looked to be affecting him during the quarter-final, and he decided to pull out a day later after the abdominal injury worsened.

Rafael Nadal wthdrew from Wimbledon due to an abdominal injury (Credits: AP)

At a press conference, Nadal said: ‘Unfortunately, as you can imagine, I am here because I have to pull out from the tournament.

‘As everyone saw yesterday I have been suffering with a pain in the abdominal [muscle] and something was not okay there. That is confirmed.’

Fans watching the quarter-final match between Nadal and Fritz noticed his father, Sebastian, to stop playing.

Despite his dad’s protests, Nadal carried on to win the match, but found himself unable to face Kyrgios in the semi-final.

During that semi-final, a was heard to be heckling the Australian, who described her as looking like she’d ‘had about 700 drinks’.

Speaking to the umpire, Kyrgios claimed the woman was ‘talking to [him] in the middle of the [game]’ during the third set.