Rafael Nadal announces Olympic warm-up event as he confirms Wimbledon decision
Rafael Nadal has confirmed that he will skip Wimbledon and focus on playing on clay ahead of the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion was widely expected to skip action at the All England Club – where he is a two-time winner – this year, ahead of what is a final tilt at adding to his two Olympic gold medals.
It was confirmed yesterday that he would head to Paris for both singles and doubles, playing alongside Carlos Alcaraz.
And, in a statement on social media this afternoon, the former world No 1 confirmed that he would skip SW19 and instead focus on playing at the Swedish Open, an ATP 250 event in Bastad.
He wrote: “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.
“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.
“In order to prepare for the Olympic Games, I will play the tournament in Bastad, Sweden. A tournament that I played earlier in my career and where I had a great time both on and off the court.
“Looking forward to seeing you all there.”
The Swedish Open had earlier confirmed that the ‘King of Clay’ would be playing the tournament this summer, with the event starting on July 15th – the day after Wimbledon concludes.
It had been rumoured that the Spaniard would be playing at the ATP 500 event in Hamburg that same week, though he has instead to play in Sweden – where the field is likely to have less depth.
However, world No 1 Jannik Sinner is currently entered into the tournament, as is 2023 champion Andrey Rublev and last year’s runner-up, Casper Ruud – who won the title in 2021.
Britain’s Cameron Norrie is also entered into the draw, with more player announcements likely to come over the next week.
Nadal lost in round one at the French Open to eventual finalist Alexander Zverev, though was more optimistic about his physical shape in Paris than he had been in Rome or Madrid previously.
Having won singles gold in 2008 and doubles gold in 2016, he will certainly fancy his chances of a third Olympic medal – especially considering action will take place at Roland Garros.
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