Rafael Nadal to miss Wimbledon to prepare for the Paris Olympic Games

Rafael Nadal is set to miss Wimbledon to prepare for the Olympic Games, where
he will team up with Carlos Alcaraz in a dream doubles partnership.

The news was confirmed by Spain’s Olympic team captain David Ferrer on Wednesday, with Nadal having said last month that it would not be good for his body to switch surfaces from clay to grass.

The 38-year-old made the French Open and Olympics his priorities after returning from a year out with hip problems.

Nadal took to social media on Thursday to underline his intentions.

“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,” said Nadal on X.

“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. Thank you.”

He lost in the first round of the singles at Roland Garros last month to eventual finalist Alexander Zverev but will have another chance on the Parisian clay, with the Olympic tennis being held at the same venue.

With Nadal expected to retire at some point this year, it appears his final match at Wimbledon will be a quarter-final win over Taylor Fritz in 2022, following which he withdrew from the tournament because of an abdominal injury. He missed the 2023 championship due to surgery.

Alcaraz, who will make his Olympics debut, said last summer it would be a dream to play with Nadal in what is likely to be one of the final events of his career.

As well as winning the French Open 14 times, Nadal also has two Olympic gold medals to his name, in singles in Beijing in 2008 and in doubles with Marc Lopez in Rio eight years ago.

The pair have never played together in a match before, while Alcaraz is very inexperienced in doubles, but they are sure to be one of the biggest draws of the event.

Alcaraz will go into the singles tournament as arguably the favourite for gold having just won his third grand slam title at Roland Garros.

What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis?

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• Stuttgart Open (ATP 250) – June 10-16
• Rosmalen Open (ATP/WTA 250) – June 10-16
• Berlin Open (WTA 500) – June 17-23
• Halle (ATP 500) – June 17-23
• Mallorca Championships (ATP 250) – June 23-29
• Bad Homburg (WTA 500) – June 23-29

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