Rafael Nadal will not play Wimbledon in two weeks or the Olympics next month, saying he is “listening to my body.”
“The goal is to prolong my career and continue to do what makes me happy, that is to compete at the highest level,” was posted on Nadal’s social media. “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.”
While Nadal cited the tight turnaround after losing a French Open semifinal to Novak Djokovic -- one fewer week than usual between Roland Garros and Wimbledon -- he did not add any more specifics behind the move to withdraw from the Tokyo Games.
“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,” he posted. “I personally had the chance to live 3 of them and had the honor to be the flag bearer for my country.“
Nadal won singles gold in 2008 and doubles gold in 2016. He is the only member of men’s tennis’ Big Three (Djokovic, Roger Federer) who owns Olympic singles gold.
Nadal said in May that he was undecided on Tokyo.
“In a normal world I will never see about missing Olympics, of course,” he said last month. “Is no doubt about that. Everybody knows how important have been for me always play Olympics. Under these circumstances, I don’t know.”
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