With his focus on the 2024 Olympics in Paris and his career winding down, Rafael Nadal is skipping Wimbledon at the start of July, the Spanish tennis legend announced Thursday morning.
Nadal, 38, says he’s been practicing on clay and says it’s best for his body not to change surfaces before the Olympics.
Tennis’ third Grand Slam of the year at the All England club is played on grass.
“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,” Nadal wrote on X. “I will miss you all.”
Nadal said he will play in a tournament in Bastad, Sweden, to prepare for the Olympic Games, which begin July 26.
After missing the Australian Open, Nadal fell in the first round to eventual finalist Alexander Zverev at Roland Garros, the site of 14 of his 22 Grand Slam victories.
His career has been derailed by injuries over the last two years, having missed last year’s French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open.
He returned to action in January at the Brisbane International after undergoing hip surgery last June, but he suffered a micro tear of a muscle near his hip, forcing him to drop out of the Australian Open.
Nadal’s last Grand Slam victory came at the 2022 French Open, which he won after winning that year’s Australian Open.
