Nadal, neither Wimbledon nor Olympics

After falling last Friday in the semifinals of Roland Garros against Serbian Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal returned to Manacor with the aim of catching air and cooling his mind to decide what his route would be in the coming months.

After a demanding tour on clay, in which he has competed in five tournaments in the last two months, the Spaniard wanted to check his body's response and finally decided to slow down;

In other words, the champion of 20 majors will not compete at Wimbledon, the next big event on the ATP calendar, nor at the Tokyo Olympics.

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"Hello everybody.

I want to inform you that I have decided not to participate in the next edition of Wimbledon that will be held from June 28 to July 11.

Nor will I play the Olympic Games finally scheduled for July 24-30.

It is a decision that is never easy to make and after listening to my body and talking to my team, I understand that it is the right one, with the aim of extending my sports career and continuing to do what makes me happy;

compete at the highest level and continue to fight for professional and personal challenges at the highest level in a competitive manner ”, the Manacor said through a statement.

The resignation of the great British is due, as he explains, to the narrowness of the calendar. This year, the pandemic forced Roland Garros to be delayed for a week, so the transition to London is faster and the preparation margin barely reaches two weeks. “The fact that there are only two weeks has not helped my body to recover from the always demanding clay court season. It has been two months of great effort and the decision I make is focused on the medium and long term ”, continues Nadal in his message.

Before leaving the Bois de Boulogne, the Mallorcan left his participation in Wimbledon up in the air - "I need to breathe, it's different from when I was 25, 26 or 27 years old, now I'm 35", he explained then - and previously he had already hinted that I am not I was sure to travel to Japan in July. "In a normal world, I would never think of missing the Games, of course, but in these circumstances I don't know," he said on May 11, just before playing in Rome; "It also influences that I am almost 35 years old, so I make decisions according to what my head and my body demand of me at all times."

In this way, Nadal considers that it is best to reserve and start thinking about the summer tour on cement, with the US Open in New York (from August 30 to September 12) as a medium-term objective. "At this point in my career as an athlete, an important part is preventing any type of excesses in my body that could prevent me from continuing to fight for the titles in the medium and long term. I want to send a special greeting to all my

around the world, to those in the UK and in Japan, ”he adds.

“The Olympic Games have meant a lot in my career and have always been a priority as an athlete, where I found the environment that every athlete wants to feel at least once in their career.

Personally, I was lucky enough to experience them intensely on three occasions and also to be the standard-bearer of my country ”, Nadal concludes.

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