Former world number one Rafael Nadal has confirmed he will miss Wimbledon this year in order to focus on the 2026 Paris Olympic games from late July to early August Former world number one Rafael Nadal has confirmed he will miss Wimbledon this year in order to focus on the 2026 Paris Olympic games from late July to early August. Photo: Ibrahim Ezzat/NurPhoto via AFP
Rafael Nadal confirmed on Thursday he will miss Wimbledon to focus on the Paris Olympics.
The Spanish tennis federation announced Wednesday that two-time Wimbledon champion Nadal and newly crowned French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz would represent the country on the Roland Garros clay.
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…
— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) June 13, 2024
According to reports, Nadal and Alcaraz could also play doubles together.
Nadal, 38, lost in the first round of the recent French Open at the same venue and indicated he was likely to skip the grasscourt Wimbledon Grand Slam, where he was champion in 2008 and 2010.
"During my post match press conference at Roland Garros I was asked about my summer calendar and since then I have been practising on clay," he tweeted on Thursday.
"It was announced yesterday that I will play at the summer Olympics in Paris, my last Olympics."
He added: "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."
Nadal won Olympic gold in singles in 2008 at Beijing and in doubles at the 2016 Rio Games.
AFP