No 2nd-seeded Rafael Nadal in Wimbledon’s men’s single

Well, Australia’s Nick Krygois now has the stage at Wimbledon all to himself, as he advances via forfeit unchallenged into the men’s single finals of the prestigious tennis tournament played in London.

This occurred when 2nd-seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain, after first taken the court against 11th-seeded Taylor Fritz of the United States and being strapped in his abdominal by a tear, then hampered by a muscle pull in his stomach area that required him to get a medical timeout late in the second set of the quarterfinals that he continued in pain but still pulled out to get past the talented Fritz in five grueling sets, twice in danger of match points in the fourth set, and then down in set four of the deciding fifth set before winning the last two games.

Then later in the day, Nadal conferred with doctors at the tournament and decided to forfeit his semis match against unseeded Krygois, who gained the semis for the first time. Now 27, Krygois is now playing his best tennis but still hasn’t played under control. His mannerism has been rather controversial with remarks said to his opponents and to the tournament officials. But in defeating unseeded Christan Garin of Chile in the quarters, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (5) he toned down and won handily.

Krygois now awaits the winner of the semifinals that will be played between top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia and 9th-seeded Cameron Norrie of Great Britain. Djokovic had a tough 5-set go before getting past 10th-seeded Italian Jannik Sinner, and especially after dropping the first two sets. Norrie, in turn, also went five sets before disposing of unseeded David Goffin of Belgium.

But the big break went to Krygois who got the day off from actual competition.

In the women’s singles semifinals, it was 3rd-seeded Ons Jabeur of Tunsia against unseeded Tatiania Maria of Germany in one, and 16th-seeded Simona Halep of Romania versus 17th-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakstan in the other.

Halep is a former Wimbledon champion on the comeback trail, rising Jabeur has been playing stellar tennis, Maria is also making a comeback, and Rybakina rallied after dropping the first set of her match against unseeded Ajai Tomijanovic, while Helep ousted 10th-seeded Amanda Anisimova of the United States.

But down went Halep, 6-4, 6-3, to Rybakina in a surprise considering Halep’s success on Centre Court at the Wimbledon Club courts. Then it was Jabeur, a high seed, but advancing to her initial finals here by upsending Maria, 6-1, 6-2.

The championship will be played Friday, the same as Djokovic against Norrie, with Djokovic popular here, but now meeting up with a local favorite in Norrie. The winner gets Krygois Saturday.

In the mixed doubles, the twosome duo of America’s Desairae Krawczyk and Britain’s Neal Skupski did another dance around the Centre Court after successfully defending their championship by sweeping aside Australia’s Matthew Ebden and Samantha Stosur, 6-4, 6-2, Thursday.

For the 28-year-old Krawczyk, it was her fourth mixed doubles Grand Slam title, who won all the majors last year except for the Australian Open.

“I was speechless,” she said. “This has been such a special moment, two in a row at Wimbledon, wow.”

She and Skupski became the first pair to successfully defend the mixed doubles at the All England Club since Czech brother-sister duo o Cyril Suk and Helena Sukova in 1997.

The second seeds came away with a close first set win and then pieced the parts together in set two.

“I was a little nervous starting on,” Skupski said, “but I got through that first service game pretty well, serving well, hit a few aces, and my left-handed serving buddy, Desairare, hit some neat serves.”

It was in fact Krawczyk’s serves that threw the Australian duo’s game off in the second set. That and Skupski’s

dept play at the net caused the Aussies constant trouble.

Now Krawczyk has a shot at another championship when she and American Danniel Collins play in Friday’s  women’s doubles final Friday against China’s Sya Zang and Romania’s Ellie Mertens.

But the main story was Nadal not able to take the court for his semifinals, a tough break for him and the fans that now leaves Krygois facing the Djokovich-Norrie semis survivor.