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Rafael Nadal could miss the chance to defend his Wimbledon title after his uncle hinted he may be losing the battle to prove his fitness.
Nadal struggled with his game as Lleyton Hewitt won an exhibition match at the Hurlingham Club 6-4, 6-3 yesterday.
The world No1's uncle Toni, who is also his coach, admitted his scepticism over the 23-year-old's participation at SW19 next week due to ongoing knee problems.
He said: “He is having difficulties bending his knees and it seems his various treatments aren't enough. I don't know if he will defend his title, we have to wait for Friday.”
Nadal is due to make a decision on Wimbledon after playing Stanislas Wawrinka this afternoon.
The Spaniard's last competitive match was his French Open defeat by Robin Soderling 19 days ago and although he practised with Andy Murray at Wimbledon this week, Nadal looked uneasy and disjointed against Hewitt.
The Spaniard said: “That match was a real test, as close to reality as it could get. I will come back and play again and then make my decision about playing at Wimbledon or not.”
If Nadal doesn't make it, he will be the first men's champion not to defend the title since Goran Ivanisevic, who retired before the 2002 tournament.
Nadal has struggled with knee problems for months and missed last year's Davis Cup Final after being diagnosed with tendinitis in November.
Meanwhile, Murray insists the Wimbledon draw will not make any difference to his chances of winning the men's title. The No3 seed learned his first-round opponent this morning but insists all that matters is the confidence he gained from winning his first grass court title at the AEGON Championships at Queen's Club last week.
“You cannot worry too much about that if you want to win the event you are going to need to beat the best players anyway,” he said. “I am comfortable that I played well at Queen's. If I play well, then I have a good chance against most guys.”
The top women's seed at Wimbledon, Dinara Safina, showed her battling qualities yesterday as she beat Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals of the Den Bosch Open.
The Russian recovered from a nightmare start to beat the world No33 in two hours in Amsterdam.
