In an unsurprising move and one that had already happened several times before, Rafael Nadal withdrew from Queen’s Club following another title at the French Open. Citing a need for rest, Nadal announced on Wednesday that he will skip the marquee grass-court warmup event for Wimbledon.
“I have spoken to my doctors and need to listen to what my body is telling me,” said Nadal, who has not played at Queen’s Club since 2015 and has not won a match there since 2011. “I would like to say sorry to the tournament organizers and the fans that were hoping to see me play.”
“Queen’s is a great event. I have happy memories of winning the title in 2008 and I wanted to come back this year. But it has been a very long clay-court season for me with great results.”
Even with Nadal out, the Queen’s Club field still includes Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin Del Potro, Marin Cilic, Grigor Dimitrov, Kevin Anderson, David Goffin, Nick Kyrgios, Tomas Berdych, Milos Raonic, and Denis Shapovalov. There is an outside chance that Andy Murray will begin his long-awaited comeback next week, as well.
While Roger Federer skipped the clay-court swing for a second consecutive season, now–at least for a couple of weeks–it is Nadal who is idle while Federer is playing. The musical chairs being played between the two all-time greats for the No. 1 ranking will continue this week if the 36-year-old Swiss wins the Stuttgart title. Federer is also scheduled to play next week in Halle.
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