Playing Wimbledon ‘not a good idea’ as Nadal eyes Olympics

Rafael Nadal says it would not be a “good idea” to play Wimbledon as he targets this year’s Olympics instead.

After losing in the French Open first round on Monday, the 37-year-old Spaniard said returning to Roland Garros at the Paris 2024 Games is now his “main goal”.

Wimbledon, where Nadal won in 2008 and 2010, starts on 1 July.

The Olympic tennis tournament begins on 27 July.

“For me now [it] looks difficult to make a transition to grass, then having the Olympics again on clay,” said Nadal. “I cannot confirm anything. I need to talk with the team and analyse facts, but I don’t think it’s going to be smart after all the things that happened to my body to make a big transition to a completely different surface and then come back immediately to clay,” he added.

Nadal, ranked 275th in the world, is almost certain to need to use a protected injury ranking to play in the Paris Olympics.