Rafael Nadal became only the fourth Wimbledon champion to defend his title as a Spaniard to his arm injured knee and withdrew from the event on Friday.
The non-unexpected message came after the world number one tested joints suffer from tendinitis in an exhibition over the past two days in London.
He was beaten by both Lleyton Hewitt on Thursday and the loss of Stan Wawrinka just hours before the decision not to play.
"Unfortunately this year I can not play at Wimbledon," said the man with the title of Roger Federer a year ago.
"I'm not 100 percent, I am better than a few weeks ago, but I'm not ready.
"The decision is that I will try to get ready for the next events. I am not prepared to go to a game as important as this.
"It is very painful for me, but I can not play this year."
Nadal said the tests showed that he suffers from fluid on both knees and an indefinite period of rest.
Nadal is the first since Goran Ivanišević in 2002 to defend his title.
No comments:
Post a Comment