A hurting Rafa Nadal exhibited heroic mental strength to edge American 11th seed Taylor Fritz in a final set tiebreaker during a captivating Wimbledon quarter-final to keep alive his quest for a calendar year Grand Slam.
Struggling with an abdominal injury, Nadal appeared close to retiring mid-match, but found the will to beat Fritz 3-6 7-5 3-6 7-5 7-6 (10-4) in four hours and 20 minutes to set up a semi-final showdown against Australian maverick Nick Kyrgios.
"The body is generally fine. Of course, in the abdominal (area) something is not going well," Nadal said on Centre Court.
"I had to find a way to serve a little bit different. For a lot of moments I was thinking maybe I will not be able to finish the match. But I don't know, the court, the energy is something else, so thanks for that."
But there was no guarantee from the 36-year-old that he would be present on Centre Court to keep his historic bid going.
"I don't know," Nadal said when asked about his chances of playing the unseeded 27-year-old Kyrgios. "Honestly, I can't give you a clear answer because if I gave you a clear answer and tomorrow another thing happens, I will be a liar."
Nadal said he was worried about the injury and he will undergo more scans on Thursday before making a decision about continuing to compete at the grasscourt major.
A third Wimbledon title and first since 2010 on the manicured lawns and a US Open triumph at Flushing Meadows would see the Mallorcan claim the calendar slam - a feat last achieved in 1969 by Australian great Rod Laver.
Fritz, 12 years younger than the 36-year-old Nadal, dealt a blow to the Spaniard earlier this year in the final of the ATP 1000 event in Indian Wells, putting an end to his 20-match winning run in the season. But Nadal played that match with a stress fracture in his rib - which later ruled him out of competition for a month.
Nadal arrived for the contest having won all seven quarter-finals he played at Wimbledon and imposed himself against Fritz from the start, wielding his forehand like a sword to break serve in the opening game.
Fritz appeared a bit listless against the left-hander's heavy groundstrokes but grew into the match as time passed and he converted his fourth breakpoint chance in the sixth game to get the set back on serve.
A couple of costly errors from Nadal gave Fritz another break and the American blitzed through the opening set, winning five straight games from 1-3, 0-30 down.
Nadal took an early lead again in the second set, breaking Fritz's serve when the American slipped and committed two forehand errors.
But the Spaniard started struggling physically - his head bowed down on court and his hands on his knees - and he gave up the advantage with two double faults in the fifth game.
Nadal soon left the court for a medical time-out for an abdominal issue with his father fervently urging him from the player's box to put an end to his misery.
But the two-time former Wimbledon champion paid no heed to the requests and returned to the packed showcourt amid huge applause and then broke Fritz in the 12th game to level the match at one set apiece.
Pensive during the changeovers and still struggling on court while serving, Nadal was broken two times as the American bagged the third set comfortably.
But he was not ready to throw in the towel yet. Nadal traded two breaks before claiming the American's serve a third time to force a deciding fifth set.
With the crowd firmly behind him, Nadal got the break in the seventh game, staring back at his player's box, but Fritz broke back immediately to force a fitting 10-point deciding tiebreaker.
The Spaniard surged 5-0 ahead in the tiebreaker, then won a 25-shot rally amid raucous applause and converted his second matchpoint with a stinging forehand winner for a memorable win.
"Honestly I enjoy a lot playing these kind of matches in front of all of you guys" Nadal said, addressing the crowd. "It has been a tough afternoon against a great player. From my personal side it was not an easy match at all. So just very happy to be in that semi-final."
Composed Kyrgios overcomes Garin
Nick Kyrgios reached the first Grand Slam semi-final of his chequered career with a comfortable 6-4 6-3 7-6(5) victory over Chile's Cristian Garin, setting up a mouth-watering clash with Nadal.
The unseeded player lost the opening nine points on Court One but ultimately had too much firepower for Garin who had hoped to become Chile's first Wimbledon semi-finalist.
In surpassing his previous best Wimbledon run to the quarter-finals eight years ago, Kyrgios becomes the first Australian man to reach a Grand Slam semi-final since Lleyton Hewitt at the 2005 US Open.
On the eve of the match, Kyrgios was summoned to appear in a Canberra court next month on an alleged common assault charge, hardly ideal preparation for one of his biggest matches. But any off-court distractions he managed to put to one side in a relatively low-volume display sprinkled occasionally with the instinctive shot-making that makes him such a draw.
As in his five-set win over American Brandon Nakashima in the previous round, Kyrgios kept his volatile temperament under wraps, although he regularly lambasted his sizeable entourage as the match dragged on, calling for more support.
Once again his serve underpinned his game, digging him out of trouble whenever Garin threatened to drag himself back into a contest that drifted away from him after his fast start.
Kyrgios saved eight of the nine break points he faced, including two at 4-4 in the first set.
Garin, who beat Kyrgios's compatriot Alex De Minaur from two sets down in the previous round, battled hard to extend the third set to a tiebreaker and led 5-3 in it before Kyrgios hit back to win the last four points.
One of tennis's great enigmas will now face Nadal in the semi-finals, a clash he predicted would be "probably the most-watched match of all time."
World number 40 Kyrgios, the lowest-ranked semi-finalist at Wimbledon since Marat Safin (75) and Rainer Schuettler (94) in 2008, will start as underdog, but will relish the occasion.
"I never thought I'd be in the semi-final of a Grand Slam. I thought that ship had sailed - that I may have wasted that window in my career.
"I had lost the love, lost the fire, lost the spark. Then some things just changed in my life. I kind of just rediscovered that I've got a lot of people that want me to play, that I play for. I've got a lot left in the tank."
Halep races into semis
Simona Halep recalls her 2019 Wimbledon final triumph as the perfect match but the message the Romanian sent out after racing into the semi-finals was that she was back to her best and loving it.
The 16th seed blasted past American Amanda Anisimova 6-2 6-4 in a Centre Court clash that lasted just over an hour to set up a meeting in the last four with Russian-born 17th seeded Kazakh Elena Rybakina.
"I'm playing the best tennis since I won here. I'm building that confidence back and it is good right now," said the former world number one, who swept aside Serena Williams in that 2019 final, before leaving the court.
The Romanian, who missed last year's tournament through injury and is now the only former champion left in the draw, has yet to drop a set in five matches that have taken up less than six hours of her time.
She said being back in a semi-final, and at one of her favourite tournaments, was just a joy.
Last year she had contemplated retirement due to her injuries.
"I am different as a person. I really believe that. I am stronger, like, with my emotions. I can control emotions much better. I have experience," she said.
Halep will need that against a big-hitting opponent who has so far served 44 aces, but she said she was ready for the challenge.
Meanwhile, Rybakina recovered from a shaky start to overwhelm Australian Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6 6-2 6-3, becoming the first Kazakhstan player to reach the last four of a Grand Slam.
Rybakina, the 17th seed, struggled in the first set but then started finding her serving range, at one point taking seven games in a row to secure the second set and put her in control of the third.
The 23-year-old, who would not have been allowed to play at this year's Wimbledon had she not switched allegiance from Russia four years ago, finished the match with an ace - her 15th of the match.
