Rafael Nadal’s hopes of completing a rare calendar year Grand Slam ended on Thursday when the Spaniard pulled out of his highly-anticipated showdown with Australian Nick Kyrgios with an abdominal strain.

The Spaniard battled to a five-set victory over Taylor Fritz in his quarter-final despite struggling with an abdominal problem and said afterwards he would seek medical advice before deciding whether to take on Kyrgios in the semi-finals on Friday.

Nadal’s scheduled Australian opponent will now receive a walkover into a maiden major final.

The 36-year-old insisted he made his tough decision due to the abdominal issue preventing him from being able to serve.

Having triumphed at the Australian and French Opens this year, Nadal and had been hoping to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to complete the calendar-year Grand Slam.

He will be sidelined for “three to four weeks”, with the US Open – scheduled to take place at the end of August – a target for the 22-time Grand Slam champion.