Rafael Nadal has pulled out of next week’s Fever Tree Championships at Queen’s Club due to fatigue. The 11-time Roland Garros and 17-time major champion says his doctor advised that he take rest after a grueling clay-court season that saw him win his 11th titles at Monte-Carlo, Barcelona and Roland Garros, as well as his eighth title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.
“Queen’s is a great event, I have happy memories of winning the title in 2008 and I wanted to come back this year,” said Nadal. “But it has been a very long clay court season for me with great results. I would like to say sorry to the tournament organizers and most of all to the fans that were hoping to see me play, but I have spoken to my doctors and I need to listen to what my body is telling me.”
On Monday the tournament announced that Novak Djokovic had taken a wild card to play the event. He joins Andy Murray, who still hopes to return from hip surgery in time to play, US Open champions Juan Martin del Potro, Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic, the reigning ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov, British No.1 Kyle Edmund, and the exciting Nick Kyrgios and Denis Shapovalov in the main draw.