Nadal withdraws from Wimbledon and Olympics

The 35-year-old recently lost only his third match in his French Open career when he was beaten by world number one Novak Djokovic in the French capital.

In a statement on his social media accounts, he has made the difficult decision in order to continue playing at the highest level for as long as possible.

“I have decided not to participate at this year’s Championships at Wimbledon and the Olympic Games in Tokyo,” he said on his Twitter account. “It’s never an easy decision to take but after listening to my body and discussing it with my team I understand that it is the right decision.

“The goal is to prolong my career and continue to do what makes me happy, that is to compete at the highest level and keep fighting for those professional and personal goals at the maximum level of competition.”

Having gone all the way at Roland Garros meant that he had a shorter turn-around time between the end of the clay season and Wimbledon which he felt wasn’t enough time to get back into fighting shape.

“The fact that there has only been two weeks between RG [Roland Garros] and Wimbledon, didn’t make it easier on my body to recuperate after the always demanding clay court season.

“They have been two months of great effort and the decision I take is focused on looking at the mid and long term.”

Nadal was knocked out in the semi-final at Wimbledon in 2019 and was beaten to the bronze medal by Kei Nishikori at the 2016 Olympic Games but has won gold before – in Beijing in 2008.

“I want to send a special message to my fans around the world, to those in the United Kingdom and Japan in particular.

“The Olympic Games always meant a lot and they were always a priority as a sports person, I found the spirit that every sports person in the world wants to live.

“I personally had the chance to participate in three of them and had the honor to be the flag bearer for my country,” Nadal mentioned.