When was the last time a male tennis player received a walkover in the semifinal or final of a Grand Slam? Find out who was the lucky recipient before Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon 2022

In one of the most shocking tennis developments, second seed Rafael Nadal on Thursday withdrew from the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, a day before his semifinal clash against Australia's Nick Kyrgios. This was only the second time in the Open Era that a man received a walkover in a Grand Slam semifinal or final after America's Jim Courier in the 1992 Australian Open semifinals.

Courier got through to the final without playing the last-four match as Dutchman Richard Krajicek pulled out due to a shoulder injury. Krajicek played a five-setter in the quarterfinals where the issue surfaced. He was then playing the doubles semifinals when he decided to retire mid-match and subsequently from the tournament before his singles semifinals against Courier.

When Krajicek announced his decision, he stated that it was the worst possible way to bow out of the tournament.

"Because I couldn't 100%, it would be almost impossible to beat him and I could have made the injury worse. It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. It was the chance of a lifetime to play the semifinals in a Grand Slam. I don't know if this will ever happen again. This is the worst possible way to go out," Krajicek said.

World No. 40 Kyrgios reached the final of a Grand Slam for the first time in his tennis career. For the summit clash on Sunday, he awaits the winner of the semifinal between six-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic and 12th-ranked Cameron Norrie on Friday.

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"I think it doesn’t make sense to go on, even if I tried a lot of times during my tennis career to keep going under tough circumstances" Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal after his quarterfinal match at Wimbledon

In a press conference, tennis legend Rafael Nadal revealed that he had to withdraw from the 2022 Wimbledon Championships before Friday's semifinal match. A dejected Nadal stated that he didn't want to step onto the court without being competitive.

“I think it doesn’t make sense to go on. Even if I tried a lot of times during my tennis career to keep going under very tough circumstances, I think it’s obvious that if I keep going, the injury is going to get worse and worse. I feel very sad to say that," Nadal said.

“I made my decision because I believe that I can’t win two matches under these circumstances. I don’t want to go out there, not be competitive enough to play at the level that I need to play to achieve my goal, and with a big chance to make the things much worse,” Nadal added.