Rafael Nadal has provided a huge boost to tennis fans by revealing he intends to play at Wimbledon for the first time since 2019 this month.
Having lifted the French Open title against Casper Ruud recently, Nadal was candid afterwards that he would trade that trophy in for a new foot, such is the severity of the injury he is battling against.
Nadal vowed that he wouldn’t continue to take painkilling injections just to be able to play but speaking in Mallorca on Friday after a week training on a grass court, the Spaniard finally shed light on if he was in, or out, of the All England Club slam.
‘My intention is to play Wimbledon,’ Nadal told a press conference in Mallorca.
‘I have trained well this week and my departure on Monday for London is to that effect.
‘But my foot situation must be evaluated day after day, so at this moment I don’t have this certainty of being able to play. I just know that I want to play the tournament, but we must also be careful.’
The Australian Open and French Open champion added: ‘Now it’s too early to give a definitive answer.
‘In the first days I had complicated feelings, day after day I got better. One more week of training in London and I hope to be able to play at Wimbledon and to be competitive to do so.’
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Nadal is halfway to completing a famous calendar Grand Slam and the prospect of further extending his Slam total on Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, who are both two behind on 20, has proven tempting.
He last played at Wimbledon in 2019, losing out in the semi-finals to Federer.
Nadal hasn’t won Wimbledon since back in 2010 and elected to skip it last season after seeing his body falter at last year’s French Open. Wimbledon gets underway on June 27.