Nadal fought through injury to come from behind to beat Fritz and reach the Wimbledon semi-finals.
The Spaniard, who had a medical timeout at the end of the second set and struggled with his movement for long spells, won 3-6 7-5 3-6 7-5 7-6 (10-4).
The Spanish 22-time Grand Slam champion went off court for treatment at 3-4 in the second set and although he returned to take that set, his movement continued to be hampered and he struggled on his backhand side and on his serve, which increasingly dropped in speed.
It keeps Nadal’s bid for a calendar Grand Slam on track and sets up a semi-final against Nick Kyrgios.
Nadal, who had strapping on his abdomen in his previous match, was bothered by the same issue again.