Why is Rafael Nadal not playing at Wimbledon 2024? Here's everything we know about the 38-year-old's absence

Tennis star Rafael Nadal says that he will not be playing at Wimbledon this year. Notably, the Spaniard plans to stay focused on the next Paris Olympics in 2024, where he will play for a second time this year at Roland Garros.

Notably, the "King of Clay" confirmed his plans on Wednesday to participate in the 2024 Olympics in France. The star player will be playing in the men's singles as well as in doubles this time. He will be partnering with Carlos Alcaraz, who has recently won the French Open 2024, and both will be representing Spain in the upcoming event.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion, who has won a record 14 French Open titles, said on Thursday that he was pulling out of the Wimbledon tournament. He made it clear that he planned to train on clay courts in the lead-up to the Olympics instead of moving to grass courts.

The 38-year-old defeated Roger Federer and Tomas Berdych to win the Wimbledon title back in 2008 and 2010. In addition, the Mallorca-born star had missed the Australian Open in 2024 and much of the 2023 season because of hip surgery, which also kept him out of the Wimbledon tournament that year as well. Meanwhile, he had just lost to Alexander Zverev in the French Open,  which resulted in a surprising first-round exit. On the other hand, Zverev made it to the finals of Roland Garros, but Carlos Alcaraz defeated him to win the title.

To prepare for the Olympic Games: Nadal

"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," Nadal wrote on X.

"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."

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