Rafael Nadal has confirmed he will miss Wimbledon due to the left wrist injury that halted his impressive run at the French Open last week.
After more than a week of keeping tight-lipped about his immediate future, Nadal broke his silence and revealed he will not be playing at Wimbledon, which kicks off on June 27.
The King of Clay publicized the unfortunate news on his official Facebook page, saying the left wrist injury he suffered at Roland Garros will need some time to fully recover, casting more uncertainty over Nadal's next appearance on the tennis court.
"Hi everybody. I'm sad to announce that after talking to my doctors, and receiving the results of my last medical revision, I won't be able to play at Wimbledon this year," Nadal disclosed.
"As you can all imagine, it's a very tough decision, but the injury I suffered at Roland Garros needs time to heal."
Nadal won two of his 14 Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010, winning against career rival Roger Federer and Czech Tomas Berdych, respectively. The last time Nadal skipped Wimbledon was in 2009, when he was also forced to the sidelines by tendinitis in both of his knees.
Nadal's absence on the grass courts of Church Road has been expected by many immediately after the Spaniard withdrew from the AEGON Championships at the Queen's Club, which is considered as a warm-up event before heading to Wimbledon.
Toni, Rafa's long-time coach and uncle, was cautious about Nadal's chances to compete at Wimbledon, insisting that there is no rush for the world No. 4 to return on the tennis court. But with Wimbledon now unlikely, Nadal could be targeting a comeback at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in August.
"There isn't any date of comeback at the moment. The goal is to arrive in the best shape at the Games of Rio, we do not want to risk his participation," Toni told Mallorca Esports as translated by Tennis World USA.
"The priority is to recover totally because if we play with some pain it can happen what happened in Paris, that's what doctors say."
Nadal was not able to disclose his return to tennis action, but according to the schedule posted on his official website, the Mallorcan has been marked to play at the German Open in Hamburg next month.