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Rafael Nadal has admitted that he faces a race against time to be fit for Wimbledon after he withdrew from next week's AEGON Championships at Queen's.
The world No1, who lost in the fourth-round of the French Open, has been advised by doctors to rest because of an ongoing knee injury.
He said: “I have been having some problems in the past months with my knees — that's no secret — that have not allowed me to always compete at 100 per cent.
“I need to work with my team to recover well, work on my physical condition to be at my top form and get ready for the grass to play at Wimbledon. I hope I can be ready to compete by then. I am very disappointed to miss Queen's. I enjoy playing there in front of the very knowledgeable British crowds.”
The 23-year-old won the title at Queen's last year and then beat Roger Federer to claim his first Wimbledon title. His withdrawal leaves world No3 Andy Murray as the top-ranked player at Queen's.
Tournament director Chris Kermode said: “Nadal has been a huge favourite with the crowds here at the Queen's Club over the past three years. No one is more disappointed than Rafa himself, but his health must come first.
“For the past three years he has played his heart out here only a couple of days after winning the French Open, so we know that he has not taken this decision lightly.”
Nadal's four-year reign as French Open champion was ended last Sunday by Robin Soderling and the Swede reached the final today with a gruelling five-set victory over Chile's Fernando Gonzalez.
The 23rd seed needed three hours and 28 minutes to beat Murray's conqueror 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4.
Tomorrow Roland Garros will host the women's final with Dinara Safina saying she could not be in better shape for her clash with fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. The world No1 has yet to win a grand slam after losing to Ana Ivanovic in last season's final and to Serena Williams in the Australian Open showpiece this year.
But she will start as favourite when she takes on seventh seed Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open champion and runner-up in Paris in 2006.
Safina believes the circumstances this year are completely different to 12 months ago.
In 2008, she had tough three-set battles against then-world No1 Maria Sharapova in the last-16 and Elena Dementieva in the quarter-finals before beating Kuznetsova to seal her place in the final.
However, this year her only difficult match came in the last eight, when she needed three sets to get past ninth seed Victoria Azarenka.
“I was tired because I had such a tough draw,” said the 23-year-old. “This year I've spent much less time on the court so I'm much fresher.”
