Rafael Nadal, who lost in the French Open semi-finals to Novak Djokovic, is yet to take a call on his Wimbledon 2021 participation.
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Rafael Nadal will not feature in the Mallorca Championships ahead of Wimbledon this year. The Spaniard, who lost in the French Open men’s singles semi-finals to Novak Djokovic, is also yet to take a call on his Wimbledon 2021 participation.
“I will not play the Mallorca Championships. I am the age that I am, I would love to play in front of the spectators at home but there is no choice,” the 35-year-old said.
“The first reason is because I never play in the week before a Grand Slam. I also don’t feel ready to start training on grass in three days. It is unsustainable.”
When asked about playing at Wimbledon, which starts on June 28, this year, he replied: “I don’t know what I’ll do in my future.
“After two intense months in a positive gravel season without having achieved the final goal, I have managed to win two titles.
“The body after so much struggle usually suffers a slump. Wimbledon this year is in two weeks. It’s different from when I was 25 years old. I am 35 and you have to see how I recover in every way.
“I need to digest it all, be calm, take a few days off and go home. We have been locked up in Paris for two and a half weeks.
“I need to breathe a little, enjoy the good weather in Mallorca and what is going to happen is of little importance.”
The absence of Nadal will be a massive blow for Wimbledon. The 20-time Grand Slam winner is one of the biggest stars of world tennis and has won the Wimbledon title twice.
He is also level with Roger Federer on Grand Slam wins and would like to edge ahead in the count sooner rather than later.
However, Djokovic is not far behind from the two and has also done what only two men before him could do – beat Nadal on clay. Afterwards, he compared the feat to climbing Mount Everest.
“It’s hard to find words bigger than all the superlatives you can think of for Rafa’s achievements (at) Roland Garros. He has been the most dominant player of Roland Garros history.
“He lost (here) two, now three times, in his entire career. He’s been playing here almost 20 years. That achievement speaks for itself.
“The amount of wins that he has made on this court is incredible. Each time you step on the court with him, you know that you have to climb Mount Everest to win against this guy here.”
Djokovic also added it was among the best matches he’s ever played in his career.
“(It was) definitely the best match that I was ever part of (at) Roland Garros. (It was among the) top three matches that I’ve ever played in my entire career.
“That is considering quality of tennis, playing my biggest rival on the court where he has had so much success and has been the dominant force in the past 15-plus years.
“And the atmosphere, which was completely electric. For both players, a lot of support. Just amazing.”
