Rafa Withdraws

Reuters

As Karen reported and Helen W linked, world No. 1 Rafael Nadal will not be defending his Wimbledon title.

Champion Rafael Nadal pulled out of Wimbledon on Friday after losing his battle to recover from a knee injury.

"Unfortunately this year I won't be able to play at Wimbledon," he told a news conference.

The Spaniard, who has been struggling with tendinitis in his knees since being knocked out of the French Open last month, tested his fitness in two exhibition matches this week but after losing both decided not to defend his Wimbledon title just three days before the start of the major.

He will be the first man not to defend his All England Club crown since Croatia's Goran Ivanisevic skipped the grasscourt grand slam in 2002.

So much for the trash talk that he was just struggling mentally.

From his press conference:

"I’m here and I'm just not 100%. I'm better than what I was a couple of weeks ago but I don’t feel right," Nadal told a packed press conference on Friday evening at the All England Club.

"To not play Wimbledon is one of the toughest decisions of my career."

After suffering a shock defeat in the French Open to Robin Soderling, Nadal received treatment on his knees in Barcelona and skipped the traditional Wimbledon warm-up at Queen’s in an effort to be fit for The Championships. He was diagnosed with tendinitis in both quadriceps tendons as well as a small amount of fluid on the kneecaps.

"I tried everything. I didn't feel terrible but also not close to my best. When I enter a tournament my goal is winning and my feeling right now is I'm not ready to win.

"It's very painful for me but I can't play at the tournament this year. It's tough but it is what it is."

Nadal's absence will cause a reshuffle in the men’s singles draw. Nadal's place will be taken by fifth seed Juan Martin Del Potro. Del Potro's place will be taken by the 17th seed James Blake. Blake's place will be taken by Jose Arguso of Argentina and a lucky loser will fill Arguso's spot.

Nadal revealed that he had been playing with considerable pain and he didn't know how long he would be out of tennis. But he said he expected to fully recover from his knee problems and that he would have a "long career".

"I played with some problems on the knee for the last few months. I've been making efforts to play week after week. The truth is that sportsmen always play with pain and don't know where the limit is, where you can get to. I think I reached that limit now.

"I will work very hard to comeback as soon as possible. One of the problems is I’m thinking more about the knees than what is happening on court and it’s very difficult to play like that."

What is Wimbledon without a defending champion?

Sad, sad day for the sport.

I'll be updating my draw report after the revised draw is released.