Former world number one and 20-time Grand Slam winner, Rafael Nadal has pulled out of Wimbledon and Tokyo Olympic Games
Legendary Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from both Wimbledon or Tokyo Olympics. Nadal, who lost to world number one Novak Djokovic in the French Open 2021 semi-finals, said he decided to skip the two tournaments after "listening" to his body. (More Tennis News)
Nadal won the title at Wimbledon twice. He also won the Olympic gold medal in singles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
"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," Nadal said.
He said the fact there was only two weeks between Roland Garros and Wimbledon "didn't make it easier" on his body to recover from "the always demanding" clay-court season.
The 35-year-old Spaniard won Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010. He also reached the final on three occasions in 2006, 2007 and 2011. In 2019, he lost to Roger Federer in the semis. 2020 was canceled due to a coronavirus pandemic.
Wimbledon, regarded as the biggest tennis tournament, starts its 134th edition on June 28.
Besides the Beijing gold, Nadal won the gold in men's doubles with Marc Lopez in Rio.