Novak Djokovic is preparing for Friday’s Wimbledon semi-final against Cameron Norrie safe in the knowledge that his greatest rival Rafael Nadal no longer stands in the way of a 21st Grand Slam triumph.

The Spanish second seed was Thursday forced to pull out before his last-four match against Nick Kyrgios with an abdominal injury, admitting defeat in his race to be fit.

Nadal’s withdrawal deprives the tournament of a blockbuster semi-final against Kyrgios, which had been on the cards since the Australian beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in a bad-tempered third-round match.

Kyrgios will have an enforced break before Sunday’s final while Djokovic, the top seed, can now see the path to a fourth consecutive Wimbledon title opening up before him.

The Serb had to come back from two sets down against Italian 10th seed Jannik Sinner in his quarter-final on Tuesday.

But the 35-year-old finished the match looking fresh, even pulling off an outrageous winner while doing the splits. 

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