Tennis: Nadal head rules his heart

Rafael Nadal will be unable to retain his Wimbledon title this year. Photo / AP

Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from Wimbledon not only robs it of its most dazzling attraction but it can only also prompt fresh and ever more grim speculation about the Spaniard's long-term tennis future.

After testing out his fitness in another exhibition match Nadal, who looked nowhere near his rampaging best, bowed to the inevitable, travelling a few miles across south-west London to announce what he described as "one of the toughest decisions of my career".

He sounded like a man who had just had a weight lifted from his shoulders.

Yes, he reckoned, he was "pained" to be only the fourth man in the Open era at Wimbledon not to be able to undertake the defence of tennis' biggest title.

But clearly, the physical pain of trying to tackle seven demanding games in a fortnight while suffering from tendinitis in both his chronically-affected knees would have been impossible to endure.

"I think I tried everything; I did my best to arrive at Wimbledon in my very best condition but Hurlingham [the exhibition match] was the last test and, though I didn't feel terrible, I was not close to my best," he admitted gloomily.

Ultimately, his decision has to be seen as sensible. Playing in Madrid the other week, before he lost to Roger Federer in the final, he realised the problem was not going away. The risk of suffering potentially career-ending damage seen against the reward of a second Wimbledon crown was simply not worth it for a man who, at 23, believes he has plenty more grand slams in him.

"There is no other option," he concluded. "I want to be able to play on for many, many years," he said.

Only rest and physio treatment can, in the short term, enable him to return to his best in a bid to win the US Open title, the one grand slam which still eludes him, in August.

The questions over Nadal's long-term fitness have hung over the champion for several years now and the popular idea that his peculiarly intense explosive and physical approach could result in him burning out in the next few years has previously always irritated him.

In the end, the head won the argument this time.

The mental aspect still remains the key to Nadal's pre-eminence. If he had competed at Wimbledon and lost in an early round for the second consecutive grand slam following his crushing disappointment at Roland Garros, Nadal would, according to the great Rod Laver, have been risking his old aura of invincibility even further.

Even at the start of the week, uncle Toni conceded that his nephew's physical struggles, which were clearly in part responsible for his shock French Open defeat by Robin Soderling, did also have an impact on his mental strength.

"He was affected by the painful defeat in Roland Garros," he said.

On Thursday, Nadal was given the runaround by 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt, who won in straight sets, and his chuntering commentary to uncle Toni at the back of the court told of a man bogged down by frustration.

He cannot have had his mood improved either by learning that Hewitt awaited him in a possible second round match at Wimbledon.