There will be no calendar Grand Slam for Rafael Nadal in 2022.
Nadal, the winner of the Australian Open and French Open earlier this year, is withdrawing from Wimbledon.
The news was first reported by The Times in the UK.
Nadal has been laboring through an abdominal injury in his last several matches, and earlier Thursday announced he had an abdominal strain.
“It’s obvious that if I keep going, the injury is going to be worse and worse,” Nadal said in a Thursday press conference.
Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from Wimbledon. CameraSport via Getty Images“Nadal had modified his service motion in practice to try and put less pressure on the abdominal area but there was less topspin and control as a result and the ball repeatedly landed long,” reports Stuart Fraser of The Times. “Would have struggled tomorrow had he taken to the court.”
“I made my decision because I believe I can’t win two matches,” Nadal said in his presser. “I don’t want to go out there and not be competitive enough to play at the level I need to to achieve my goal.”
Nadal trains on a practice court Thursday before announcing his withdrawal Getty Images
Nadal during his match with Taylor Fritz Getty ImagesNadal had been slated to face Nick Kyrgios in the semifinals. Now Kyrgios advances to the finals of the major, where he will face the winner of Novak Djokovic vs. Cameron Norrie.
The 36-year-old Nadal has won 22 majors in his career, including Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010.
