Nadal pulls out of Wimbledon

Nadal should have made the toughest decision of his life. Pulling out of the most prestigious even of the world. So the Men's draw will not have a defending Champion this year.

Nadal withdrew from the grass-court Grand Slam tournament Friday, three days before it begins, becoming only the second men’s champion in 35 years to decline to defend his Wimbledon title.

He announced his withdrawal about 2 1/2 hours after losing to 18th-ranked Stanislas Wawrinka in an exhibition match on grass at Hurlingham Club in south London. He earlier lost to Lleyton Hewitt.

“When I start a tournament like Wimbledon, it is to try to win,” the No. 1-ranked Nadal said, “and my feeling right now is I’m not ready to play to win.”

Aside from the physical issues, Nadal spoke Friday about the mental toll the injury has taken. This is, after all, a player whose rise to the upper echelon of tennis was built in part on his ability to race around a court and track down shots.

“One of the big problems is, when I am playing, I’m thinking more about the knees than about the game. So that’s very difficult to play well like this, no?” the six-time major champion said.

By pulling out after Friday morning’s draw, Nadal forced organizers to shuffle the men’s bracket. No. 5-seeded Juan Martin del Potro was moved from a potential semifinal against No. 2 Federer on the bottom half of the field into Nadal’s old spot in the top half. And No. 17 James Blake switched from the top half to the bottom half in del Potro’s old spot—and a possible semifinal against Federer.

It also means that No. 6 Andy Roddick, a two-time Wimbledon runner-up, now could face del Potro—rather than Nadal—in the quarterfinals. The other potential men’s quarterfinals are Federer vs. No. 7 Fernando Verdasco; No. 3 Andy Murray vs. No. 7 Gilles Simon; and Blake vs. No. 4 Novak Djokovic.

Now the door is even wider for Roger to get his 15th Grandslam and possible become the new world no.1!