Rafael Nadal withdraws from Wimbledon

Rafael Nadal announced today that he will not participate in the 2009 Wimbledon tournament. The ATP world number 1 will almost certainly lose his ranking to Roger Federer or Andy Murray.

His knee injury is too debilitating for him to defend his title in a tournament of this importance, and this injury is also unofficially a factor in his surprising defeat in the fourth round of the French Open against Söderling. Intensive treatments are not enough; Nadal is forced to take care of his knee. The intensive rehabilitation in Barcelona before the English Open was not sufficient to eliminate the pain.

Majorcan statement:

«This is one of the worst moments of my career. But I’m not at 100%. I don’t feel ready for a tournament as important as Wimbledon. I decided I couldn’t play this tournament this year. I tried everything, I worked hard these past few weeks to arrive here in the best possible shape. Today (against Stanislas Wawrinka in an exhibition match), even though it wasn’t terrible, I wasn’t close to my best. When I go into a tournament like Wimbledon, it’s to win. And I feel like I wasn’t ready to win. Not playing Wimbledon was one of the hardest decisions of my career. But the circumstances made it easier to make.»