Tennis fans have been served some surprising news.
On Thursday, June 17, Rafael Nadal revealed to his fans that he has decided not to participate at this year’s championships at Wimbledon or the Tokyo Olympic Games.
“It’s never an easy decision to take, but after listening to my body and discuss it with my team I understand that it is the right decision,” he explained to his 15.5 million followers on Twitter. “The goal is to prolong my career and continue to do what makes me happy, that is to compete at the highest level and keep fighting for those professional and personal goals at the maximum level of competition.”
According to the 35-year-old athlete, another factor that went into his decision was the simple fact that there were only two weeks between the French Open and Wimbledon. The short time span “didn’t make it easier on my body to recuperate,” he said.
“They have been two months of great effort and the decision I take is focused looking at the mid and long term,” Rafael explained. “Sport prevention of any kind of excess in my body is a very important factor at this stage of my career in order to try to keep fighting for the highest level of competition and titles.”
