Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s Club for the third consecutive year after winning his 11th Roland Garros title last weekend. Nadal enjoyed a successful clay season, in which he also clinched titles in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona and Rome and finished runner-up in Madrid.
Nadal has played at Queen’s Club six times so far in his career and clinched this title in 2008 (the year in which he also won Wimbledon against Roger Federer, but he did not play at Queen’s in 2016 due to a wrist injury and missed last year’s edition due to precautionary reasons.
In his last appearance at the Queen’s tournament in 2015 he lost to Alexander Dolgopolov in the first round.
He will start his Wimbledon campaign without any official grass-court tournaments. He did not advance beyond the fourth round since his last final appearance in 2011.
“Queen’s is a great event. I have happy memories of winning the title in 2008 and I wanted to come back this year, but it has been a very long clay court season for me with great results. I would like to say sorry to the the tournament organizers and most of the fans that were hoping to sse me play, but I have spoken to my doctors and I need to listen to what my body is telling me”, said Nadal.
Nadal has become the leader in the ATP Race to London for the first time this season following his win over Dominic Thiem in the French Open final.
Even without Nadal the Queen’s tournament will feature a star-studded line-up, including Novak Djokovic, who has accepted a late wild-card. It is still uncertain whether Andy Murray will be able to play at Queen’s and Wimbledon after pulling out of this week’s tournament at s’Hertogenbosch.
Murray has not played a competitive match since losing in the Wimbledon quarter finals last July. He underwent hip surgery during the Australian Open last January.
