Nadal eyes Paris Games

PARIS — Rafael Nadal says it would not be a “good idea” to play Wimbledon as he targets this year’s Olympics instead.

After losing in the French Open first round on Monday, the 37-year-old Spaniard said returning to Roland Garros at the Paris 2024 Games is now his “main goal”. 

Wimbledon, where Nadal won in 2008 and 2010, starts on July 1. 

The Olympic tennis tournament begins on July 27. 

“For me now [it] looks difficult to make a transition to grass, then having the Olympics again on clay,” said Nadal. 

“I cannot confirm anything. I need to talk with the team and analyse facts. 

“But I don’t think it’s going to be smart after all the things that happened to my body to make a big transition to a completely different surface and then come back immediately to clay.” 

Nadal, ranked 275th in the world, is almost certain to need to use a protected injury ranking to play in the Paris Olympics. 

The 22-time Grand Slam champion has suffered a catalogue of physical problems over the past 18 months. 

Nadal, who won the singles at Beijing 2008, is earmarked to play Olympic doubles for Spain with reigning Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz. 

“If everything goes well, we are going to play doubles together here,” Alcaraz confirmed after his French Open first-round win on Sunday. 

Since suffering a hip injury at the 2023 Australian Open, Nadal has only played five tournaments, but has been encouraged by the way his body has stood up to the physicality of the clay-court swing. A tough draw at the French Open, where he was unseeded for the first time, led to a straight-set defeat by German fourth seed Alexander Zverev on Monday. — BBC Sport.