Rafael Nadal retired from his semifinals match against Juan Martin Del Potro after two sets on Friday.
Nadal announced his plan to retire to the chair umpire after approaching him about a line call during the sixth game of the second set. The Spaniard still managed to serve his way through the game to make it 2-4 in the second, but Del Potro held serve at love on the ensuing game. Nadal attempted to hold his serve down 2-5 in the second but was broken to drop the set. He also lost the first set 7-6 in a tiebreaker and was down two sets to none.
Nadal appeared to be having trouble with his right knee and even pointed to it while explaining to Del Potro his reason for retiring. He had it taped during the match and did not appear to be moving to the best of his abilities.
The outcome was not too surprising after what Nadal went through in his quarterfinals match. Nadal somehow outlasted Dominic Thiem in five sets in the quarters despite being bageled in the first set. The match lasted nearly five hours, did not finish until Wednesday morning, and was the longest of Nadal’s US Open career.
Del Potro awaits the winner of the Kei Nishikori-Novak Djokovic match in the finals.
