Expected to miss Wimbledon, Rafael Nadal will instead train for the Paris Olympics by competing in a clay-court event in Bastad, Sweden, a venue he hasn’t been in 19 years.
On Thursday, the 38-year-old Grand Slam champion declared that he would like to stay on clay rather than move to grass for the All England Club and then return to clay for the Summer Games.
In a statement, Nadal added, “We believe that the best thing for my body is not to change the surface.
Rafael Nadal Will Skip Wimbledon So He Doesn’t Have To Switch From Grass To Clay For The Olympics
He has had to play a restricted schedule due to hip and stomach ailments he has been battling for the past 1.5 years, including surgery scheduled for 2023. Final runner-up Alexander Zverev upset Nadal in the first round of the French Open late last month, the first time in Nadal’s career that he has lost consecutive clay court matches.
Tennis will be played in Roland Garros during the Summer Games beginning on July 27. That is where the French Open is held, where Rafael Nadal has won a remarkable 14 championships.
Spanish men’s tennis captain David Ferrer said on Wednesday that Nadal will compete in the Olympics in both singles and doubles, partnering Carlos Alcaraz. On Sunday, Alcaraz, 21, claimed his third Grand Slam victory by winning the French Open. Among men, he is the youngest to hold major titles on all three surfaces.
Rafael Nadal Will Skip Wimbledon So He Doesn’t Have To Switch From Grass To Clay For The Olympics
Nadal was asked about playing at Wimbledon, which takes place from July 1 to 14, following his loss to Zverev in Paris.
Honesty, it looks challenging. It seems hard to switch to grass, and I am having the Olympics on clay again right now, so I can’t confirm what’s happening.
Nadal said, “But I don’t think it’s going to be smart, after all the things that happened to my body, (to) now make a big transition to a completely different surface and then come back immediately to clay.”
At Wimbledon, he defeated Roger Federer in the 2008 final and Tomas Berdych in the 2010 final to win two trophies. In his previous three visits, including his most recent visit to the All England Club in 2022, when he withdrew from the final four due to a ruptured abdominal muscle, Nadal was also the runner-up three times.
Rafael Nadal Will Skip Wimbledon So He Doesn’t Have To Switch From Grass To Clay For The Olympics
“I’m going to miss Wimbledon’s Championships this year. “I am sorry not to be able to live this year in the great atmosphere of that amazing event that will always be in my heart, and I will be with all the British fans who always gave me great support,” Nadal said on Thursday. I shall miss every one of you.
At Bastad, a clay-court competition that begins on July 15, he will make his fourth appearance and first since 2005. In the championship match that year, Nadal defeated Berdych.
SOURCE – (AP)
