Less than three weeks before the start of the Wimbledon Championships, Rafael Nadal is still unsure if he will be fit in time to play in the tournament.
During the French Open, the former world No.1 withdrew due to a left wrist injury. It was the first time in Nadal’s career that he had been forced to withdraw during a grand slam tournament. The exact diagnoses of the issue is unclear, however, the pain first started in May when Nadal was participating in the Madrid Open.
After pulling out of next week’s Aegon Championships, it is unclear as to when the nine-time French Open champion will return to the courts. In a recent interview with his coach, Toni Nadal, it was admitted that Nadal’s Wimbledon presence is ‘currently up in the air’.
“It is in the recovery process, continuing the process of rest and with the deadlines set by the doctor of the federation, but there is no date for return.” Uncle Toni told Mallorca Esports.
“The goal is to get in the best condition for the Games in Rio, we do not want to put in jeopardy his participation. Right now there I can’t tell you if he is going to play Wimbledon or not”.
The decision to place the Olympic Games higher than Wimbledon in Nadal’s priority list is unsurprising considering his recent record at SW19. Since settling for runner-up at the 2011 tournament, the Spaniard has failed to progress beyond the fourth round at four consecutive Wimbledon championships. In addition, Nadal will be carrying the flag for his country at the Olympic opening ceremony and has spoken on multiple occasions about how important of the upcoming Rio event is to him.
In the immediate future, the focus is to make sure that Nadal doesn’t return to action too early and risk aggravating the injury further according to his uncle.
“The priority now is to recover completely because if we play with discomfort, then the same thing can happen again like in Paris according to doctors.” He said.
It isn’t the first time that Nadal has been troubled by a wrist problem. In July 2014, he injured his right wrist during a training session. That injury resulted in him missing the entire American swing of the tour, including the US Open.
