Rafael Nadal explains Wimbledon snub as schedule becomes clear before 'last Olympics'

Rafael Nadal has officially withdrawn from Wimbledon, explaining why he decided to snub the Grand Slam tournament. The Spaniard has instead entered the Nordea Open, taking place from July 15.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion has his sights set on what will be his "last Olympics", with the tennis event being played on the clay courts at Roland Garros.

Given all of his physical issues over the last couple of years, the Spaniard doesn't want to jeopardise his body by switching to grass courts and back to clay again. But he is still keen to get some matches in before Paris 2024 and he has signed up to an ATP 250 event in the week after Wimbledon to do just that.

After losing at the French Open, Nadal admitted it was unlikely that he would play Wimbledon. And he confirmed that he had decided to pull out of the grass-court Grand Slam on Thursday.

"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," he wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).

"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."

But he will still be competing at another tournament in July. Nadal added: "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."

Nordea Open organisers also confirmed Nadal's participation on Thursday. "We are excited to welcome back, one of the greatest of all time," they tweeted. "Tennis lovers worldwide, let us present…. …Rafael Nadal Can’t wait to have you back in Bastad this summer."

The tournament takes place from July 15 to 21 and already has a strong field for an ATP 250 event in the week after a Grand Slam. New world No. 1 Jannik Sinner is among the players previously announced to compete in Bastad with Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev and Cameron Norrie also on the list. It could change depending on how well they do at Wimbledon but it's no surprise the top players want to get used to the clay before the Olympics.