Nadal Withdraws From 2009 Wimbledon

Defending champion Rafael Nadal announced today he is withdrawing from Wimbledon due to a nagging injury.  The number 1 ranked player in the world has been hampered of late by tendinitis. “To not play Wimbledon is one of the toughest decisions of my career.”, said Nadal.

Nadal had skipped the traditional warm-up events in order to allow time to heal, however, it just was not enough.  He stated, “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’s departure opens the door in the top half of the draw for British favorite Andy Murray. The draw will be shuffled with the number 5 seed Juan Martin Del Potro moving into the vacant slot. Number 17 James Blake will move to the number 5 slot.

The bottom half of the draw has suddenly become the one to watch, with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Fernando Verdasco all battling it out.