Nadal Feels Good-To-Go For Wimbledon: Joining Novak In Pre-Tourney Event
Saturday, June 18, 2022 at 09:46AM By Barry Janoff
June 18, 2022: Rafael Nadal, who has two Wimbledon wins among his 22 lifetime men’s Grand Slams — but who has not played in the London tournament since 2019 — said he wants to compete in the event.
Nadal, who is dealing with a chronic injury to his left foot, has won the first two Grand Slams of 2022, but withdrew from a post-Roland Garros tournament.
He now says he will compete in the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic in London leading to Wimbledon, which is scheduled for June 27-July 10.
“I am excited to travel, to try to play Wimbledon after three years,” Nadal said during a media conference in his home of Mallorca on Friday (June 17). He was referring to the cancelation of Wimbledon in 2020 due to COVID-19 and his personal decision not to play in the 2021 competition.
“My intention is to travel to London next Monday, play two matches there before the tournament starts and just follow my normal schedule to prepare the best way possible [for] Wimbledon. Today, that’s all I can say.”
The Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic in the Hurlingham Club is an exhibition event part of the ATP Champions Tour (June 21-26).
Novak Djokovic has also said he would play in the Armani Tennis Classic as opposed to an ATP Tour event the same week. Among others, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud and Denis Shapovalov are also scheduled to play.
According to Armani Tennis Classic organizers, the first four days include current ATP Tour stars playing exhibition matches. The final two days (June 25-26) include ATP Champions Tour legends playing informal matches in both a singles and doubles format.
Nadal’s inclusion in Wimbledon comes on the heels of 23-time women’s Grand Slam winner Serena Williams indicating she would play in London after nearly a year off the Hologic WTA Tour due to injury and rehabilitation.
Defending men’s champion Djokovic is also on the Wimbledon entry list, and former world No. 1 Andy Murray said he anticipates playing.
However, current men’s No. 1 Daniil Medvedev is out due to a ban by tournament officials on players from Russia and Belarus.
Also missing will be Roger Federer, still rehabilitating from a third surgery on his right knee; and Naomi Osaka, who said she is still dealing with an Achilles injury.
"My Achilles still isn't right so I'll see you next time," Osaka posted to her social media platforms.
Top-ranked men’s players Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev — both in the process of rehabing from injuries — have also withdrawn from Wimbledon.
Separately, Nadal said he and wife Mery Perelló are expecting their first baby.
“I’m happy with the way I was able to practice this week here,” Nadal said of his pre-Wimbledon routine. “I was able to practice the whole week, increasing a little bit the amount of work.
“So I’m positive about that.”
ATP Tour events leading to Wimbledon include the Mallorca Championships and the ATP-WTA 500 Rothesay International in Eastbourne, Great Britain, both the week of June 19-25 (Tennis Channel).
“In some way I went through some pain after the final (in Roland Garros),” Nadal said during his media event.
“The next day . . . it was a tough day in terms of pain. The next day was much worse before traveling to Barcelona. So I experienced a couple of tough days.”
According to Nadal, “Not much time to rest. But I know that it’s gonna be like this if I wanted to try to play Wimbledon.
“I didn’t have time to lose. I had to try to do the treatment. If that works, it will be my chance to try to travel to Wimbledon. So that’s what I did and here I am with some positive news.”
As a result of the ban on athletes, the ATP and WTA will not award ranking points at the Grand Slam.
The ban also impacts players from Russia and Belarus including Aryna Sabalenka, Daria Kasatkina, Victoria Azarenka, Andre Rublev and Karen Khachanov.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club said the Grand Slam would offer a tournament record $50.5 million in total player prize money.
The men’s and women’s singles winners will each earn $2.5 million.
AELTC said the overall prize money is an 11% increase over last year, “when crowd capacity was reduced because of coronavirus restrictions, and a 5.4% increase over 2019.”
Photo: ATP
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