Spanish tennis star Nadal pulls out of London Olympics

French Open men's champion Rafael Nadal says an injury will keep him from competing this month in London.

|
Juan Medina/REUTERS
Tennis player Rafael Nadal, the official Spanish flag barrier at the London Olympics, speaks during a handover ceremony in Madrid in this file photo taken July 14. Reigning Olympic champion Nadal will miss the London Olympics after failing to recover from injury, the Spaniard said on Thursday.

Defending Olympic tennis champion Rafael Nadal pulled out of the London Games on Thursday with an undisclosed injury.

"I am not in condition to compete in the London Olympics and therefore will not travel as planned with the Spanish delegation to take part in the games," the third-ranked Spaniard said in a statement.

Nadal did not mention any specific injury, but he canceled a charity match in Madrid on July 4 because of tendon problems in his left knee. He has had recurring knee problems in the past.

Nadal has not played since losing in the second round of Wimbledon to then 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol, one of the most surprising results in the tournament's history.

"I have to think about my companions, I can't be selfish and I have to think of what's best for Spanish sport, especially tennis and Spanish players, and give fellow sportsmen with better preparation the chance to compete," he said. "I tried to hurry my preparations and training to the very last minute, but it was not to be."

Nadal, who won the singles tournament at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, was set to be the flag bearer for Spain during the opening ceremony.

"(This) is one of the saddest days of my career as one of my biggest ambitions, that of being Spain's flag bearer in the opening ceremony of the games in London, cannot be," Nadal said. "You can imagine how difficult it was to take this decision."

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Spanish tennis star Nadal pulls out of London Olympics
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Olympics/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0719/Spanish-tennis-star-Nadal-pulls-out-of-London-Olympics
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe