London | Nadal pulls out of Queen’s

Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from next week’s Wimbledon warm-up event at Queen’s Club as the world number one takes a break following his triumph at Roland Garros last weekend.

Nadal crushed Dominic Thiem to clinch his 11th French Open title on Sunday, but the Spaniard hinted after the final that the toll on his body might force him to miss part of the grass-court campaign.

We are obviously disappointed that Rafa has decided that he is unable to play this year, but we wish him well and hope to see him on our courts in the future Stephen Farrow

The 32-year-old is drained after playing 27 matches on clay over the last two months and, after consulting with his medical team, he confirmed on Wednesday that he won’t play at Queens this year.

“Queen’s is a great event, I have happy memories of winning the title in 2008 and I wanted to come back this year. But it has been a very long clay court season for me with great results,” Nadal said in a statement released by tournament organisers.

“I would like to say sorry to the tournament organisers and most of all to the fans that were hoping to see me play, but I have spoken to my doctors and I need to listen to what my body is telling me.”

It is the third consecutive year Nadal has entered the tournament only to pull out before it has started.

“We are obviously disappointed that Rafa has decided that he is unable to play this year, but we wish him well and hope to see him on our courts in the future,” said tournament director Stephen Farrow.