Two-time Olympic gold medalist, Rafael Nadal, has announced his withdrawal from this summer’s Wimbledon and the Olympic Games.
Nadal who crashed out of the just-concluded Roland Garros at the semis to the eventual winner, Novak Djokovic, made the disclosure on Thursday via his verified Twitter handle.
“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.
“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.
“The fact that there has only been two 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.’
“Sport prevention of any kind of excess in my body is a very important factor at this stage of my career in order to try to keep fighting for the highest level of competition and titles,’ continued Nadal.
“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 sportsperson, I found the spirit that every sportsperson in the world wants to live. I personally had the chance to live three of them and had the honour to be the flag bearer for my country.”
The Spaniard has two Olympic gold medals in the singles in Beijing in 2008 and in doubles with Marc Lopez in Rio in 2016, as well as two Wimbledon titles that he won in 2008 and 2010.”
