"He is suffering; he has the ability to endure pain and take it to the extreme and on top of that he wins"

Garbine Muguruza has hailed her compatriot Rafael Nadal for playing through the pain barrier and winning matches.

Nadal, 36, endured an abdominal tear during his quarterfinal win over Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon last week. The Spaniard took a medical timeout during the second set after dropping the opener. He dug deep to win three of the next four sets before prevailing in a fifth set supertiebreak.

However, the victory came at a great personal cost for the 22-time Major winner. He had to withdraw from his semifinal against Nick Kyrgios, who went on to lose to Novak Djokovic in the final.

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During an interaction with Marca, Muguruza said that it pains her to see Nadal's physical state, inspite of which he still wins matches. She said:

"It hurts because he was able to understand what he suffers. He is suffering; he has the ability to endure pain and takes it to the extreme and on top of that, he wins."

Regarding the 'Big Three' of Roger Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, Muguruza said:

"Among the men, there are three aliens, and the others are very good, but there is a big difference."

Djokovic won his seventh Wimbledon title and 21st Major honor on Sunday (July 10) to move to within one of all-time Grand Slam men's singles title leader Nadal.

Rafael Nadal's bid for calendar Slam ends

Rafael Nadal on Day Eleven: The Championships - Wimbledon 2022

Rafael Nadal made a career-best start to the 2022 season when he won his first 20 matches. That included wins in Melbourne, the Australian Open and Acapulco before his perfect start was ended by Taylor Fritz in the Miami final.

Nadal's win at the first Grand Slam of the year was his second at the tournament and first since beating Federer in the 2009 final. That made him the first male player in the Open Era to win 21 Majors.

After injuring his rib in Miami, Nadal made a belated start to his claycourt campaign, enduring early defeats in Madrid and Rome. However, he beat first-time Major finalist Casper Ruud to win a record-extending 14th Roland Garros title. The 36-year-old dethroned defending champion Djokovic in the semifinals.

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Rafael Nadal arrived at Wimbledon two weeks ago hoping to win his first title at the grasscourt Major since his last of two triumphs in 2010. Despite not playing on grass for three years, he made an inspired run to the last four, beating Fritz in the quarterfinals despite tearing his abdominals.

However, he was in no state to win two more matches, ending his bid to win the calendar Grand Slam. The Spaniard will hope to return before the US Open, where he'll look to win his fifth title.