Rafael Nadal announced on Thursday that he will not play at Wimbledon later this month because of the wrist injury that also forced him out of the French Open. Nadal rolled through two matches at Roland Garros before withdrawing prior to the third round.
The 14-time major champion posted the following on Facebook: “Hi everybody. I’m sad to announce that after talking to my doctors, and receiving the results of my last medical revision, I won’t be able to play at Wimbledon this year. As you can all imagine, it’s a very tough decision, but the injury I suffered at Roland Garros needs time to heal. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to join in the pre-tournament event #TheBoodles at #Stokepark that I attended in previous years.
“Thank you all for your support, especially my fans. Your kind messages mean so much to me.”
Nadal has an up-and-down relationship with the All-England Club. On the extremely positive side, the Spaniard has won it twice. He beat Roger Federer in one of the most famous matches ever played in the 2008 final before less ceremoniously bashing Tomas Berdych in the 2010 title match. However, Nadal could not play in 2009 due to knee tendinitis, lost in stunning fashion to Lukas Rosol in the 2012 second round, and has since been the victim of upsets at the hands of Steve Darcis, Nick Kygios, and Dustin Brown.
The world No. 4 will see only 45 ranking points come off the board when Wimbledon ends because he fell to Brown in round two last summer.
bad for the game
Sad for the game. 🙂
Oh goodness! I made a smiley face when it should have been this – 🙁
Ah well, given his last performances at Wimby I’d say it’s not so tragic … I hope he makes it in time for the Olympics
its unreal that Rafa is no 3 in the race to london with virtually no points from two grand slams :O
the two above him were finalists in both