Rafael Nadal withdrew from Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics, following his first defeat on the clay courts of the French Open in five years. He said he wanted to better pick his spots in order to stretch his twilight atop the tennis world.
World No. 3 Rafael Nadal withdrew from Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday, following his first defeat on the clay courts of the French Open in five years. The 35-year-old winner of 20 major tournaments said in a social media post that he wanted to better pick his spots in order to stretch his twilight atop the tennis world.
“The goal is to prolong my career and continue to do what makes me happy,” he wrote. “That is to compete at the highest level and keep fighting for those professional and personal goals at the maximum level of competition.” Nadal’s exit from the summer’s biggest tournaments somewhat clears the runway for his closest rival Novak Djokovicof all four major tournaments in a calendar year plus the Olympics, known as a “Golden Slam.” The only singles player in tennis history to achieve it remains Steffi Graf in 1988. Djokovic has already won the first two majors of the season, bringing his haul to 19, while the only two players with more Grand Slam titles—Nadal and Roger Federer—appear to be faltering.
“The fact that there has only been 2 weeks between [Roland-Garros] and Wimbledon, didn’t make it easier on my body to recuperate after the always demanding clay court season,” Nadal wrote. “They have been two months of great effort and the decision I take is focused looking at the mid and long term.”
Nadal is a two-time Wimbledon champion with titles in 2008 and 2010 and won the men’s singles gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
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Rafael Nadal pulls out of Wimbledon and Tokyo Olympics20-time tennis grand slam champion Rafael Nadal is pulling out of Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics, citing pressure on his body
Read more »