Rafael Nadal will not play at Wimbledon or at the Tokyo Olympics, noting that he has decided to skip the two tournaments after “listening” to his body.
Wimbledon is scheduled to run from 28 June to 11 July, with the Tokyo Olympics poised to be staged from 23 July to 8 August.
In a statement posted on his official Twitter page, the 20-time grand slam champion said: "It's never an easy decision to take but after listening to my body and discuss it with my team I understand that it is the right decision.
"The goal is to prolong my career and continue to do what makes me happy, that is to compete at the highest level and keep fighting for those professional and personal goals at the maximum level of competition.
The 35-year-old Spaniard said the two-week gap between the French Open and Wimbledon -- which starts on June 28 -- was not enough time for him to recuperate after a demanding clay-court season where he played in five tournaments.
"The fact that there has only been 2 weeks between RG [Roland Garros] and Wimbledon, didn't make it easier on my body to recuperate after the always demanding clay court season. They have been two months of great effort and the decision I take is focused looking at the mid and long term," added Nadal.
BNadal, a 20-time Grand Slam winner, played at the Monte Carlo Masters, Barcelona, Madrid Masters and Rome Masters before the French Open.
His last outing on a tennis court was a semifinal defeat to Novak Djokovic at the this month's French Open -- only his third ever defeat on the Parisian clay.
Nadal is a 20-time Grand Slam champion with a record 13 titles at the French Open
His loss at Roland Garros last Friday was only his third in 108 matches at a tournament he won each of the last four years, including by beating Djokovic in the 2020 final.
Nadal has won two gold medals at the Olympics -- a singles title in 2008 in Beijing and a doubles gold at Rio 2016.
"The Olympic Games always meant a lot and they were always a priority as a sports person, I found the spirit that every sports person in the world wants to live," Nadal said.
"I personally had the chance to live three of them and had the honour to be the flag bearer for my country."