Rafael Nadal, playing in pain

The legendary Rafael Nadal didn’t offer any excuses.

It was obvious to the huge turnout at Wimbledon Wednesday that he was hurting, that he had a medical timeout at the end of the second set and struggled with his movement for long spells in this round of 16 match versus upset-minded, 11th-seeded Taylor Fritz of the United States.

In his previous match, he had strapping on his abdomen, was in pair, and now, against a tough opponent in Fritz, was bothered by the same issue again.

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But he hung on to survive and gain the semifinals against unseeded Nick Kyrgios of Australia, who handily made his way past unseeded Curtis Garin, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6, to cruise into his first Final Four Grand Slam.

As for Nadal, who knows how he will show up versus the controversial Kyrgios who at 6-foot-5 is quick to return volleys at the net, owns a strong serve, is very outspoken, and is one of the hottest players on the London courts.

Nadal, who barely got past Fritz, who is also 6-5, did it by spiting the first two sets, 3-6, 7-5, almost identical in the next two, 3-6, 7-5, and then the fifth-set tiebreaker that he won 10-4 after escaping from a pair of match points. When it was over, Nadal rushed right to the net to offer praise to the 25-year-old Fritz, who then lowered his head, shook it a few times, and walked to his chair.

Yes, Nadal, now 36 and one of the sports all-time top players, was happy to make it through. He did speak of the injury that hampered him, but also gave a ton of praise to Fritz.

“Taylor Fritz,” he said, “is a great, great player and showed it out there today. He served well, returned well, never showed times of slowing down, and it was just a very tough match. How I will be for my next match I can’t say, but I was just happy to win this one.”

Nadal, who was broken eight times, got away to a good start with a break in the opening game but Fritz raced back to the net to launch a stunning forehand down the line to break back at 3-3. From then on, the Spaniard seemed troubled physically, and when he handed the Californian American a break with a double fault, Fritz wasted no time serving out the set with three-straight aces.

It was obvious that 22-time Grand Slam champion Nadal was in pain, but he continued to play even after the medical timeout after set two, and often raised his racket to compliment good shots made by Fritz.

Fritz, meanwhile, just played his game. He had won his first matches in straight sets, and was getting to tough shots with both backhand and forehand returns. He often shook his head after missed shots, and the only times he became upset with himself was in the fourth set when he was in possession to win the match at that time. He came close when he was at ad twice, but missed some line shots and Nadal forced the deciding fifth set.

Here, Fritz was truly in trouble. Here, it’s tiebreakers where you have to win 10 times and by winning back-to-back games, and quickly he fell behind 5-0 behind finally scoring. Then he had it to 5-2 before Nadal won a trio of points to go up 8-2, and then 10-4 after Fritz cut the gap slightly.

Fritz certainly didn’t consider it a moral victory because he felt he played well enough to win as he did at this year’s Indian Wells tournament final against Nadal.

Against Krygios, Nadal is 6-3 and has won the last three times.

In another tight, almost surprising men’s singles, it was No. 1-seeded Noval Djokovic over unseeded, rising Italian Sinner, 5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, in a five-setter that had Djokovic drop the first two sets.

In the women’s singles draw, 14-seeded Simona Halsep is playing real well in her comeback, and in the round of 16, ousted 20th-seeded American Amanda Anisimova, 6-2, 6-4. A former Wimbledon champion, Halsep’s best surface is grass. In another women’s singles match, Emma Rybakiva lost the first set, 4-6, but came back to take the next two, 6-2, 6-3, in the win over Tam Ljanovic.

In women’s doubles, it was Katie Kawczyk and Daniel Collins of the United States turning back Stella Rosolska and Jessica Routierre, 6-1, 6-7, 6-3, In three sets, but Jack Sock and Cocco Gauff of the United States lost to Tomas Ebden and Valerie Stosur in three sets of mixed doubles, 6-3, 5-7, 5-7. In another mixed doubles, Dennis Endist and Bill Stubbs eliminated Josie Fernandez of the United States and Susan Johanssen, also in three sets, 4-6, 6-2, and 16-14 in the third set tiebreaker.

In men’s doubles, Tim Ram of the United States and Bob Salisbury went a weary five sets to topple Jim Muhut and Tomas Roger-Vallecon, 6-3, 6-7,1-6, 6-4, 6-4. And in another doubles, Joe Baghdatis and Rob Malisse turned away Tom Hass and Paul Philissousssis, 1-6, 6-4, 10-8.