Twice former champion Rafael Nadal pulls out of Wimbledon

• Tennis News
• Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal won't be travelling to play Wimbledon in 2021. The Spaniard shared the news of his non-participation at the Championships on Twitter. In addition to Wimbledon, Nadal also announced that he won’t be travelling to Japan to play in the Tokyo Olympics.

“Hi all, I have decided not to participate at this year’s Championships at Wimbledon and the Olympic Games in Tokyo. It’s never an easy decision to take but after listening to my body and discuss it with my team I understand that it is the right decision,” Nadal shared, in the first of his tweet thread about not playing these two events.

He went on to note that the short time duration between Roland Garros and Wimbledon had also contributed to his decision about skipping Wimbledon. “The fact that there has only been 2 weeks between RG 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 looking at the mid and long term”.

Rafael Nadal's Olympic legacy

Nadal concluded his post by saying that while it wasn’t to be this year, he was honoured to represent Spain in three previous editions of the Olympic Games.

“The Olympic Games always meant a lot and they were always a priority as a Sports person, I found the spirit that every sportsperson in the world wants to live. I personally had the chance to live 3 of them and had the honor to be the flag bearer for my country”.

The 35-year-old won Wimbledon in 2008 (defeated Roger Federer) and in 2010 (defeated Tomas Berdych). He also reached the final on three occasions, in 2006 and 2007 (lost to Federer) and in 2011 (lost to Novak Djokovic). In the last edition of Wimbledon, in 2019, Nadal lost in the semi-final to Federer.

The Mallorcan’s Olympics’ history is just as brilliant. Rafael Nadal won the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Eight years later, at the 2016 Rio Games, he won the gold in men’s doubles partnering Marc Lopez. That year, Nadal was also the Flag Bearer for the Spanish Olympic contingent.