1 of 5 | Spain's Rafael Nadal, who previously said that 2024 could be his final tennis season, will not play in Wimbledon 2024. File Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI |
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June 13 (UPI) -- Rafael Nadal will skip what was expected to be his final appearance at Wimbledon 2024 and remain on clay to prepare for the 2024 Summer Games, the Spanish tennis legend announced Thursday on social media.
"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," Nadal wrote on X and Instagram. "It was announced yesterday that I will play at the summer Olympics in Paris, my last Olympics.
"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."
Wimbledon 2024, the third Grand Slam of the tennis season, will be held from July 1 to 14 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London. Nadal is a two-time champion of the grass-court major. Known as the "King of Clay" because of his dominance at the French Open, Nadal exited in the first round of this year's tournament at Roland Garros.
The Royal Spanish Tennis Federation announced Wednesday that Nadal will team up with 2024 French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz -- the No. 2 singles player in the world -- for the doubles tournament on the same courts during the Summer Games.
Nadal, a 2008 Olympic singles champion and doubles winner at the 2016 Summer Games, also will participate in the singles tournament in Paris.
Nadal, ranked No. 264, missed nearly the entire 2023 campaign because of a hip issue. He said Thursday that he plans to play next month in the 2024 Nordea Open to prepare for the Olympics. That clay-court tournament will be held from July 15 to 21 next month in Bastad, Sweden.
No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy also is expected to compete in the Nordea Open.
