Rafael Nadal is set to miss Wimbledon and will make a decision on his future after playing the Olympics later this summer. The 14-time French Open champion lost to world No.4 Alex Zverev today to go out in the opening round for the first time ever.
In an emotional post-match speech to the Court Philippe-Chatrier Crowd, the Spanish superstar was unable to confirm this will be his last appearance in this tournament. “There’s a bg percentage I won’t be back here, but I can’t say 100%,” he said.
In his press conference later, Nadal stated he does intend to play in the Olympics which start here at Roland Garros on July 27.
But with Wimbledon beginning on July 1, the 37-year-old is reluctant to switch to grass and then back to clay in such a short time after his recent hip problems.
Asked if he will play the grass-court season, the 22-time Grand Slam champion said: “Looks difficult, honestly. For me now I can’t confirm what’s going on, but for me now looks difficult to make a transition to grass, having Olympics again on clay. So I cannot confirm anything. I need to talk with my team. I need to analyse so many facts.
“But I don’t think it’s going to be smart after all the things that happened to my body now to make a big transition to a completely different surface and then come back immediately to clay, no?
“Today I feel that’s not a good idea, but I can’t confirm. But my feelings is even if I am booked in Wimbledon because I had to, I don’t think it’s a positive idea right now.”
Nadal twice won the Wimbledon title. He became world No.1 for the first time in 2008 when he beat Roger Federer in a classic final and then again in 2010 and he has made the semi-finals in his last three appearances.
But he had to withdraw before facing Nick Kyrgios in 2022 with an abdominal strain – the only time he has played in SW19 since 2019.
Carlos Alcaraz has said he wants to play doubles with Nadal at the Olympics – and that is Nadal’s only current focus.
“The I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next few months,” he said. “I need to finish all this process. My mindset was ready till Olympics and then I need to check how I feel in different ways in terms of personal motivation, body feelings, and then in terms of level of tennis it makes sense to keep playing.”
