Yes, you read that right! Tennis superstar Rafael Nadal confirmed today via personal social media that he will not compete in this year's Wimbledon Open and the Tokyo Olympics. The reason why he quit was entirely to "cultivate" for a period of time in order to "extend" his career. And not because of last week's defeat to Djokovic!
The two-time Wimbledon champion was eliminated by rival Novak Djokovic in last week's French Open semi-finals. Despite his impressive performances at the French Open, the 35-year-old says the clay season has exhausted his body.
Nadal has struggled with a knee injury for the past decade and he hopes to play in SW19 for the first time since reaching the semi-finals in 2019.
However, the Spanish giant, who did not accept defeat, said he had to think long-term about his career and would not risk injury again for wimbledon.
"Hello everyone, I have decided not to participate in this year's Wimbledon Open and the Tokyo Olympics. It was never an easy decision to make, but given my current physical condition and after discussions with my team, I knew it was the right decision. ”
"My goal is to extend my career and continue to do what makes me happy, which is to compete at the highest level and fight for those professional and personal goals at the highest level."
The fact that there were only two weeks to go from RG to Wimbledon didn't make it easier for his body to recover after the always demanding clay season. So after two months of deliberation, he finally made the above decision.
"At this stage of my career, in order to continue to fight for the highest level of competition and championships, preventing any form of excess of exercise in the body is a very important factor." Judging by the message he posted today, he wants to send a special message to fans around the world, especially those in the UK and Japan.
The Olympics mean a lot to Nadal, and as an athlete, the Olympics have always been his top priority. Because every athlete in the world wants to participate. Nadal was fortunate to participate in 3 of them and was honored to represent the national team.
Nadal made it to Wimbledon final five times, the last victory being in 2010 against Thomas Berdych, the famous victory Nadal had won two years earlier over Roger Federer.
The Spanish superstar, who was once a tennis star, has previously reached the final four in south-west London, losing to Federer in 2019 and Djokovic 12 months ago.
Every goodbye is for a better reunion, we see you in August 2021! The European Championship also hopes that Spain will win the title, which is a comfort to Nadal. Although this year the Spanish team does not have Real Madrid players!