Rafael Nadal Officially Withdraws From 2024 Wimbledon Championships

Thursday, 13 June 2024 at 17:15

byZachary Wimer

Rafael Nadal won't be playing at Wimbledon this year, as he'll keep playing on clay to better prepare for the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris.

This season's tennis calendar is richer by one big tournament, and that's the Olympic Games, which are hugely important to all players. Nadal will be playing at them and bidding farewell to Olympic tennis, where he left quite a mark over the years.

The Olympics are played at the Roland Garros, which certainly adds to the intrigue because they are courts where Nadal absolutely dominated over the past two decades. His last match there wasn't that great, as he was beaten by Alexander Zverev; however, the Games might provide a chance for him to redeem himself.

Towards that goal, Nadal has withdrawn from Wimbledon, which has been talked about for a few weeks now. Switching from clay to grass and then back to clay in such a short period of time made no sense for the Spaniard.

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"During my post match press conference at Roland Garros I was asked about my summer calendar and since then I have been practicing on clay. It was announced yesterday that I will play at the summer Olympics in Paris, my last Olympics."

While this decision may be bad news for his fans who wanted to see him in SW19, it may prove to be the best decision that he's made this year, as he'll have a better clay preparation for the Olympic Games than anyone else on the ATP Tour.

"With this goal, we believe that the best for my body is not to change surface and keep playing on clay until then. It’s for this reason that I will miss playing at the Championships this year at Wimbledon."

"I am saddened not to be able to live this year the great atmosphere of that amazing event that will always be in my heart, and be with all the British fans that always gave me great support. I will miss you all."