Paris (AFP)

Neither Wimbledon nor the Tokyo Olympics: less than a week after being dethroned at Roland Garros, Rafael Nadal preferred to "listen to his body" and decided to give up the two major summer tennis meetings on Thursday, in order to to pursue his career.

"It's a decision that is never easy to take, but it is the right one with the aim of prolonging my sporting career and continuing to do what makes me happy: to play at the highest level", writes on social networks the Spaniard, 35 years since early June and overthrown in the semi-finals on Parisian clay last Friday by Novak Djokovic, future winner, after a titanic fight.

To explain his absence from the London Grand Slam (June 28-July 11), "Rafa" evokes the tightened 2021 calendar, after the slight delay of one week at Roland Garros in the face of health restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The fact that there are only two weeks between Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year does not help my body to recover from the always demanding season on clay," he justifies.

"It has just passed two intense months and the decision that I take is oriented in the medium and long term", insists the Mallorcan, who, for the moment, shares with Roger Federer the record of trophies in Grand Slam (20) .

- "Little pain in the foot" -

"At this stage of my career, the prevention of any form of excess at the physical level which might prevent me from continuing to fight for titles in the medium and long term, is a very important factor", he continues. .

If Nadal does not mention a specific injury, Roland-Garros director Guy Forget had mentioned "a little pain in his foot" during a press conference last Sunday.

"He was a little physically affected at the end (of the semi-final). He had, once again, the elegance not to talk about it at all," he said.

A few minutes after his elimination from his cherished tournament, Nadal had cast doubt on his participation in Wimbledon, which he won twice (2008 and 2010).

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"I need to breathe a bit, he warned. I'm not 25, 26 or 27 anymore, now I'm 35. I have to see how I recover, at all levels, and I will decide if I play in London or not. I cannot make this decision now, I have neither the physical state nor the lucidity to do it. "

- First major package -

On the Olympics (July 23-August 8) either, Nadal, crowned Olympic champion in singles in 2008 and in doubles in 2016 (with Marc Lopez), had not been categorical lately.

"In a normal world, I wouldn't imagine missing the Olympics, but under these circumstances, I don't know, he said at the start of May. My age also matters, I make my decisions according to what my head and my body dictate to me. at each step."

"The Olympics have been very important in my career and have always been a priority as a sportsman, he recalls Thursday. I found the state of mind that every sportsman in the world wants to know at least once. Personally, I had the chance to experience it intensely three times (he also participated in doubles with Carlos Moya in 2004, editor's note) and also to be the standard bearer of my country "in Rio in 2016.

The Spanish champion, the first sportsman of international stature to give up the Tokyo Games, paid a heavy price for injuries throughout his career, especially to the left foot, not even twenty years old, to the knees and wrists.

In total, they cost him participation in a dozen Grand Slam tournaments, plus the 2012 Olympics.

© 2021 AFP