Rafael Nadal will miss Wimbledon to prepare for the Olympic Games, where he will form a dream doubles partnership with Carlos Alcaraz.
Spain’s Olympic team captain, David Ferrer, confirmed the expected news on Wednesday. Last month, Nadal said switching surfaces from clay to grass would not benefit his body.
It isn’t news that most fans who have Wimbledon tickets would’ve wanted to hear, and it feels like the All-England Club will not see the Spaniard again in action.
With Nadal expected to retire at some point this year, his final match at Wimbledon will be a quarter-final win against Taylor Fritz in 2022. He withdrew from the tournament after an abdominal injury. Fans in the stands that day with Wimbledon tickets knew very little that it was perhaps his last game at the club.
Alcaraz, who will make his Olympic debut in Paris, said last summer that it would be a dream come true to play with Nadal in what is likely to be one of the final events of his career.
The 38-year-old prioritised the French Open and Olympics after returning from a year out with hip problems. He lost in the first round of the singles at Roland Garros last month against the eventual finalist Alexander Zverev but will have another chance on the Paris clay, with the Olympic tennis being held at the same venue.
In addition to winning the French Open 14 times, Nadal has two Olympic gold medals to his name: in singles in Beijing in 2008 and doubles with Marc López in Rio eight years ago.
Nadal and Alcaraz have never played together in a match before, with the younger player very inexperienced in doubles, but they are sure to be one of the event’s biggest draws. Alcaraz will go into the singles tournament as arguably the favourite for gold, having just won his third grand slam title at Roland Garros.
Pablo Carreno Busta and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina are the other players selected, and Marcel Granollers, world No. 2 in doubles, is also in the squad.
The Paris Olympics run from 26 July until 11 August.
Murray Opts Out
Andy Murray, meanwhile, may opt out of challenging for a third Olympic gold medal in Paris if he is not selected to play in the doubles tournament. The three-time grand slam title winner and twice Olympic champion is eligible to compete in the singles at the Games, with two places reserved for players who have won a grand slam or Olympic tournament.
However, Murray could miss out on the doubles at Paris, with Britain poised to send Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski instead. “I need to see what happens with the Olympics,” Murray said after his 6-3, 6-4 defeat against Marcos Giron at the Stuttgart Open on Tuesday.
“I’m not 100% sure what the situation is with the doubles yet and whether or not I will play if I just get in the singles. I don’t know. My body didn’t feel great playing on clay last month. I had quite a few issues with my back, so I don’t know if I would go just for singles. I need to wait a little bit and see what happens.” Murray lost alongside Daniel Evans in the first round of the French Open doubles.
The tennis tournament at the Olympics will take place at Roland Garros from 27 July to 4 August.
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Jack Draper succeeded on Wednesday where Murray could not by defeating Giron 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, to reach the Stuttgart quarter-finals. Draper took the first set 6-4 after 31 minutes, but his American opponent regrouped for the second set.
Sabalenka Confident of Wimbledon Glory
After a disappointing exit in the quarterfinals at the Roland Garros, the two-time Grand Slam winner Aryna Sabalenka wants to give it all at Wimbledon.
Sabalenka was plagued by a stomach bug for what she said was “a few days” before her quarterfinal loss to Mirra Andreeva in Paris. She looked visibly ailing for two hours and 29 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
She received medical attention more than once in the three-set affair, in which she led by a set, as she was often found doubled over and winded between points.
But it wasn’t anything that a little “vitamin sea” couldn’t cure: Sabalenka jetted off for a relaxing getaway to “recharge” and took fans along with her through multiple Instagram photo dumps. They showcased her soaking up the sun on the beach, chowing down on gyros, and enjoying picturesque sunset views.
“A little slice of paradise,” she captioned one post, which showcased her dancing in a bikini and drinking white wine.
Following her self-described “reset,” Sabalenka was ready to hit the grass courts, and the two-time Wimbledon semifinalist stopped by the All-England Club to officially start her road to the year’s third Grand Slam.
After falling two matches short of the goal last year, the 26-year-old hopes to be the first player since Serena Williams in 2015 to win the Australian Open and Wimbledon in the same year.
But Sabalenka has one more stop on the agenda before she returns to SW19 to compete again: next week’s eco trans-Ladies Open in Berlin.
For the fans with Wimbledon tickets, the men’s and women’s draws will be interesting, but for the players, it looks like a long, unending season.
Soon after Wimbledon, they will need to train for the Olympics, where they will represent their respective countries, and later head for the final stop for the US Open.
Wimbledon Prize Money Announced
Wimbledon will have a record £50m total prize money next month, with the two singles champions taking home £2.7m each.
Last year’s champions Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousovan received a record of £2.35m.
The wheelchair events also saw a 35% increase in prize money, with their total prize fund increasing to £1m, although this partly reflects an increase in draw size.
The total prize money is up 11.9% from last year’s tournament, and first-round singles losers will receive £60,000 – a £5,000 increase.
This means the total prize pot is £5.3m higher than last year and has doubled from £25m in 2014.
Money for the qualifying competition will also increase by 14.9%.