Tennis legend Rafael Nadal has announced that he would not take part in this year’s Wimbledon tennis championship or the Olympic Games in Japan. The tennis star took to social media to make the shocking announcement.
He wrote, “Hi all, I have decided not to participate at this year’s Championships at Wimbledon and the Olympic Games in Tokyo. It’s never an easy decision to take but after listening to my body and discuss it with my team I understand that it is the right decision.”
Nadal, who has won a record 20 Grand Slam, had lost to Novak Djokovic in this year’s French Open semi-final.
The Spaniard said in his subsequent tweet, “The goal is to prolong my career and continue to do what makes me happy, that is to compete at the highest level and keep fighting for those professional and personal goals at the maximum level of competition.”
“The fact that there has only been 2 weeks between RG and Wimbledon, didn’t make it easier on my body to recuperate after the always demanding clay court season. They have been two months of great effort and the decision I take is focused looking at the mid and long term,” Nadal continued.
Nadal said that ‘sport prevention of any kind of excess’ in his body was ‘a very important factor at this stage’ of his career. This, he said, was ‘in order to try to keep fighting for the highest level of competition and titles.’
I want to send a special message to my fans around the world, to those in the United Kingdom and Japan in particular.
— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) June 17, 2021
He said, “I want to send a special message to my fans around the world, to those in the United Kingdom and Japan in particular.”
Nadal concluded by saying that the ‘Olympic Games always meant a lot and they were always a priority as a Sports person.’ “I found the spirit that every sports person in the world wants to live. I personally had the chance to live 3 of them and had the honor to be the flag bearer for my country,” he said.
Earlier, Roger Federer had pulled out of the French Open even after beating Marin Cilic in a grueling five-set match. “After two knee surgeries and over a year of rehabilitation it’s important that I listen to my body and make sure I don’t push myself too quickly on my road to recovery. I am thrilled to have gotten three matches under my belt. There is no greater feeling than being back on court,” the Swiss legend had said.