Times on line -

June 19, 2009

Rafael Nadal pulls out of Wimbledon

Rafael Nadal has pulled out of Wimbledon, saying that he is not fit enough to defend his title.

The world No 1 has been assessing his fitness this week after being forced to withdraw from the Queen's Club tournament with knee trouble. He underwent treatment in Barcelona but looked uncomfortable while losing exhibition matches yesterday and today at the Hurlingham Club in London as part of the BNP Paribas Fortis Challenge.

After defeat by Lleyton Hewitt yesterday, Nadal went down to Stanislas Wawrinka, of Switzerland, this afternoon and. However, he did not look unduly troubled by his injuries and there was little in his body language or movement around the court to offer hints as to which way his decision about Wimbledon will go.

Nadal, who has tendinitis and fluid on the kneecaps, has said that he would not play at SW19 unless he is 100 per cent fit. His defeat by Sweden's Robin Soderling in the fourth round of the French Open was the biggest shock of the year and he later revealed that he had been battling against the injurues for some time.

The loss of Nadal, who won the title in dramatic style against Roger Federer last July, robs the Championships of a lot of their sheen and would lead to a revision of the draw, which was made this morning. Nadal has been slated to face Arnaud Clement, with Hewitt a likely second-round opponent and Andy Murray potentially waiting in the semi-finals.

This means that Juan Martín del Potro, of Argentina, the the No 5 seed, moves into the vacant slot left by Nadal and his place in turn is taken by the No 17 seed, David Ferrer, of Spain. The 33rd player on the men’s list slides into Ferrer’s position and a lucky loser from qualifying would fill the final slot.

More to follow...

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