Nadal to miss Wimbledon to focus on Olympics
Rafael Nadal will play in a clay-court tournament in Sweden rather than on the grass Wimbledon this summer.
Rafael Nadal will play in a clay-court tournament in Sweden rather than on the grass Wimbledon this summer.
Rafael Nadal announced on social media Thursday that he will not compete at Wimbledon.
The Spaniard explained that with this year’s Olympics being played on clay at Roland Garros, he does not want to change surface. He most recently played at Roland Garros.
“During my post match press conference at Roland Garros I was asked about my summer calendar and since then I have been practising on clay. It was announced yesterday that I will play at the summer Olympics in Paris, my last Olympics,” Nadal wrote. “With this goal, we believe that the best for my body is not to change surface and keep playing on clay until then.
“It’s for this reason that I will miss playing at The Championships this year at Wimbledon. I am saddened not to be able to live this year the great atmosphere of that amazing event that will always be in my heart, and be with all the British fans that always gave me great support. I will miss you all.”
During my post match press conference at Roland Garros I was asked about my summer calendar and since then I have been practicing on clay. It was announced yesterday that I will play at the summer Olympics in Paris, my last Olympics.
— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) June 13, 2024
In the same announcement, Nadal revealed that he has added another tournament to his calendar: the Nordea Open in Bastad.
“In order to prepare for the Olympic Games, I will play the tournament in Bastad, Sweden, a tournament that I played earlier in my career and where I had a great time both on and off the court,” Nadal wrote. “Looking forward to seeing you all there. Thank you.”
[ATP APP]Nadal has competed in Bastad three times, most recently when he won the tournament in 2005. That year he earned wins against four players who reached the world’s Top 10: Juan Monaco, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Tommy Robredo and Tomas Berdych.
New World No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings Jannik Sinner is also scheduled to play in Bastad.
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Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz will form a doubles team at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The news was officially confirmed on Wednesday by David Ferrer, the captain of the Spanish men’s team, at an event held at the Real Club de Tennis Barcelona. The Spanish line-up in Paris will also include Pablo Carreno Busta, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Marcel Granollers.
“As you all know, one of the doubles teams will be formed by Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal,” Ferrer said of the two former No. 1s in the PIF ATP Rankings, who will also both compete in singles. “The second team is yet to be decided, it’s not 100 per cent certain. There is a clear idea, but we’re going to wait a little to decide it. If nothing happens to prevent it, Rafa and Carlos will be playing together in Paris.”
Talk about a dream duo 🤩 🤝 pic.twitter.com/ie0W5nK9PD
— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 12, 2024
Alcaraz will have to adjust to having a teammate by his side on court; his history in doubles is a short one. In his professional career, the Murcia native has only played nine matches in the team format, none of them coming in the past two seasons. While his meteoric rise to the top of men’s tennis came off the back of very little experience on the big stages, adapting to the team discipline will provide a new opportunity for the prodigy from El Palmar to show off his ability to learn quickly.
For his part, Nadal is one of the most experienced players on Tour when it comes to the Olympics. The Mallorcan is the only active male player to have won a gold medal in singles and doubles, a fitting record at the four-yearly event for one of the sport’s most legendary players.
The Spaniard won gold in Beijing in 2008, shortly before becoming World No. 1 for the first time. At Rio de Janeiro 2016, Nadal completed his set by climbing to the top of the doubles podium alongside his close friend Marc Lopez. This is now a feat he will look to repeat in a few months’ time on the clay of Paris 2024.
Emilio Sanchez-Vicario and Sergio Casal, who won silver in Seoul in 1988, and Alex Corretja and Albert Costa, who clinched bronze in Sidney 2000, are Spain’s only other previous medal-winners in men’s Olympic doubles.
The doubles competition in Paris will consist of a 32-team draw. Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic are the event’s defending champions after they won the gold medal at Tokyo 2020.
The tennis tournament will take place from Saturday 27 July to Sunday 4 August on the clay of Roland Garros. It will be the first time the Olympic event has been played on clay since Barcelona 1992.
Editor’s note: This article was translated from ATPTour.com/es.
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Spanish tennis legends Rafael Nadal and Carlos Moya delivered inspiring speeches Wednesday at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar graduation. The 92-time tour-level titlist Nadal shared with the 52 graduates a story about an impactful conversation he had with rival and friend Roger Federer.
Although Nadal and Federer are widely regarded as two of the greatest players to ever touch a tennis racquet, the 38-year-old Spaniard revealed that he and the Swiss agree that there is something more important that they want to be remembered by.
“A few months ago I had the chance to visit the Italian Dolomites in the company of my friend and rival Roger Federer. There in the mountains, we had a very interesting conversation about a word that I think is very important: legacy,” Nadal said in Spanish.
“Both Roger and I agree on something we believe is of the utmost importance. How would we like to be remembered in a few years? How do we want the future generations to think of us? We are both very sure of our answers. It’s great that our achievements, our titles and our records are recognised, but as the years go by it is probable that someone will arrive and do something better.
“What is important, then, is that which will always be remembered. Therefore, both Roger and I agree that we would like to be remembered as good people. We live in a society that highlights the what and the now above all else. But I would like to highlight the importance of the how. When you are at university or on a tennis court, say to yourself occasionally, ‘How would I like my classmates to remember me? And my teachers? My friends?’ I could tell you to try and be influencers in your surroundings, but I prefer the term leaders. The people around you should see you as someone who should be copied because of their values.”
[ATP APP]Moya, former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, served as the academy’s guest speaker, following in the footsteps of WTA star Iga Swiatek, who delivered the keynote speech 12 months ago. Moya shared thoughtful advice about the importance of working hard when it matters most.
“Throughout my career, I managed to achieve very important goals. Goals that I couldn’t even imagine when I was a kid. Of course the easy thing is to watch players winning trophies but nobody sees what is behind there, all the work you have to do every day,” Moya said.
“Days where you don’t feel like going to practice, going to the gym, studying. If you push yourself through those moments, these are the moments that are paying off. These are the moments that if you do it, it’s going to take you to the next level and help you grow in whatever you want to do. So pay attention to those moments.”
Nadal and Moya are not the only former No. 1’s to speak in front of a graduating class this year. Federer delivered a memorable commencement speech at Dartmouth University on Sunday, discussing several key life lessons.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Daniil Medvedev’s sense of humour and thoughtful— sometimes sarcastic — answers always provide entertainment.
The 28-year-old provided plenty of laughs in a new ATP Tour feature, during which Medvedev, Casper Ruud, Holger Rune, Taylor Fritz, amongst others, provided their grass-court predictions. Medvedev delivered the funniest moment of the piece.
“I don’t have a grass-court title, I will try to win Halle this year… No, I have one in Mallorca! Forget it,” Medvedev said with a smile, seemingly forgetting that he won a trophy on the surface in 2021.
Medvedev also delivered a surprise answer, naming a player outside the Top 40 of the PIF ATP Rankings when asked about a dark horse for the grass swing while several others agreed on a lefty inside the Top 20. Can you guess either player?
[ATP APP]Ruud and Hubert Hurkacz chose a fellow Top 10 star to find success throughout the next month while Ben Shelton is eyeing a colleague to relive a standout 2023 run.
“I think he’s going to back up what he did last year,” Shelton said.
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[NEWSLETTER FORM]Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are two of the six players who have won the prestigious Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF. This week, they are the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the world, respectively.
Sinner, 22 and Alcaraz, 21, are the first pair of 22-and-under players to hold the top two spots in the PIF ATP Rankings since Roger Federer and Andy Roddick in August 2004. On 8 August 2004, Federer turned 23.
Sinner is the first Italian to reach the singles pinnacle, man or woman, since computerised rankings began in 1973. He is the 29th man to climb to the top of the sport.
Aged 19, Alcaraz became the youngest No. 1 in PIF ATP Rankings history following the 2022 US Open. He was also the first teen to accomplish the feat.
This is the first week the duo has occupied the top two spots in any order. The stars met for the ninth time in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series in the semi-finals of Roland Garros, where Alcaraz won in five sets. The Spaniard later lifted the trophy at the clay-court major for the first time.
Both men have embraced their rivalry and have the utmost respect for one another. Alcaraz currently leads their series 5-4.
“Everything he does, he does it perfectly. The way that he hit the ball is unbelievable. The way he moves, it’s really, really [good]. He pushes you to the limit in every ball, in every point,” Alcaraz said of Sinner ahead of their Paris semi-final. “I think it is the hardest thing to face Jannik. At the same time I love that.”
The 21-year-old later said: “Probably a little bit more nerves before facing him. I’m not going to lie. I mean, he probably is one of the most difficult challenges that we can face in tennis right now.”
Sinner pointed out that they tend to play towards the end of the biggest tournaments. Their past five clashes have come in semi-finals and seven of their nine meetings have been at Grand Slam tournaments or ATP Masters 1000 events.
“Very important matches. I think that’s exciting for the game, especially when [the] head-to-head is quite close,” Sinner said before their Roland Garros clash. “And the winner is happy and then the loser tries to find a way to beat him the next time. I think that’s exciting.”
[ATP APP]Paul Annacone, a Tennis Channel commentator who has had a front-row seat to storied rivalries when he coached the likes of Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, believes Sinner and Alcaraz will have “great battles” in the coming year.
“Look, you can’t ever, ever, ever replace what these icons have done that are winding down — Roger, Rafa and maybe Novak, who knows, and Andy Murray and Stan — but tennis is in pretty good hands with those two,” Annacone said. “And I think there’s going to be a bunch of other players that are going to be knocking on the door of the majors as well, which will be fun.”
The future is now, led by Sinner and Alcaraz.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Julian Cash and Robert Galloway continued their successful start to the grass-court swing Wednesday by upsetting fourth seeds Ariel Behar and Adam Pavlasek at the BOSS OPEN.
Fresh off a title run at last week’s ATP Challenger Tour 125 event in Surbiton, Cash and Galloway built upon their momentum, earning a 7-6(3), 7-5 victory to reach the quarter-finals in Stuttgart.
Also at the ATP 250, Yuki Bhambri and Albano Olivetti advanced to the semi-finals after downing Theo Arribage and Sadio Doumbia 6-3, 6-2. Constantin Frantzen and Hendrik Jebens won an all-German quarter-final, rallying past Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz 2-6, 7-6(5), 10-8.
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Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic overcame an early test to reach the quarter-finals at the Libema Open, where the Dutch-Croatian pair defeated Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn 7-6(8), 6-2. The top seeds, fifth in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Race To Turin, saved two set points in the opening-set tie-break.
Second-seeded American duo Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow earned a hard-fought 7-5, 6-7(3), 10-8 victory against home hopes Sander Arends and Matwe Middelkoop. Australians Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson also advanced in ‘s-Hertogenbosch with a 6-4, 7-6(6) win against Americans Ryan Seggerman and Patrick Trhac.
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