"I am saddened" - Rafael Nadal confirms Wimbledon 2024 withdrawal in favor of 'last Olympics' of his career in Paris

Rafael Nadal has confirmed his withdrawal from the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. He will skip the grasscourt Major to focus on his final Olympic appearance in Paris (July 26-August 11).

Spain's men's team captain David Ferrer confirmed Nadal's participation in this year's Games on June 12, announcing that the 22-time Grand Slam champion will also team up with Carlos Alcaraz for doubles.

With that, Ferrer also said that Nadal would skip Wimbledon to concentrate on preparing for the Olympics, although the 38-year-old had not officially confirmed this until now.

Nadal took to X (formerly Twitter) on June 13 and wrote:

"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."

Nadal then conveyed his disappointment at missing out on this year's London Major and expressed his heartfelt regret for not being able to engage with British fans.

"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," he wrote.

"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," he added.

Rafael Nadal also confirmed that his next tournament will be the Nordea Open, scheduled to take place from July 15-21.

"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. Looking forward to seeing you all there. Thank you," the 38-year-old wrote.

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Rafael Nadal has 2 Wimbledon titles

Rafael Nadal pictured with his Wimbledon 2010 trophy

Rafael Nadal has won two Wimbledon titles, the first in 2008 and the second two years later.

In 2008, No. 2 seed Nadal defeated Andreas Beck, Ernests Gulbis, Nicolas Kiefer, Mikhail Youzhny, Andy Murray, Rainer Schuttler, and five-time defending champion Roger Federer in the final to claim his maiden trophy at SW19.

The Spaniard defeated wildcard Kei Nishikori, Robin Haase, Philipp Petzschner, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Robin Soderling, Andy Murray, and Tomas Berdych in 2010 to secure his last title at Wimbledon.