LONDON, June 13, 2018 (Press Release)
Rafael Nadal has today informed the organizers of his decision to withdraw from the Fever-Tree Championships, that starts on Monday.
Nadal, who completed a Roland Garros-Queen’s-Wimbledon treble 10 years ago, had intended to return to try to do the same again as part of the strongest entry list in the tournament’s history. His five Wimbledon final appearances all came after reaching the quarterfinals or better at The Queen’s Club, but after playing 27 matches on clay over the last two months and winning an 11th Roland Garros title at the weekend, he has decided that he needs time on the sidelines to recover.
“Queen’s is a great event, I have happy memories of winning the title in 2008 and I wanted to come back this year,” said Nadal. “But it has been a very long clay court season for me with great results. 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.”
On Monday, three-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic took a late Fever-Tree Championships wild card and will play at the The Queen’s Club for the first time in eight years.
He joins a field of players that includes five-time winner Andy Murray, who still hopes to return from hip surgery in time to play, US Open champions Juan Martin del Potro, Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic, the reigning ATP World Tour Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov, British No.1 Kyle Edmund, and the exciting Nick Kyrgios and Denis Shapovalov. Diego Schwartzman has also withdrawn with an abdominal injury.
“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. “At the same time, we are thrilled to have added Novak Djokovic to a line-up that already includes so many of the best players in the world. We remain on track for a fantastic week of tennis at the Fever-Tree Championships and we can’t wait to get started.”
