Rafael Nadal named in Rio Olympics draw
Rio de Janeiro, July 16 (IANS) Former world No. 1 Rafael Nadal will compete in next month’s Rio Olympics after recovering from a wrist injury, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said.
The 14-time Grand Slam winner has not played since pulling out of the French Open in May, reports Xinhua.
Nadal won gold at the Beijing 2008 Games but missed the London Olympics four years later due to a knee injury.
The 30-year-old, who is expected to be Spain’s flag-bearer at the opening ceremony on August 5, will compete in the singles and also the mixed doubles with French Open winner Garbine Muguruza, ITF announced on Friday.
“Nadal’s commitment is total and he will go to Rio to participate,” said Alejandro Blanco, the president of Spain’s Olympic committee.
“I have no doubts about his participation. He is training regularly in order to achieve what he wants – a medal.”
The announcement means that the four biggest names in men’s tennis — Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Roger Federer — will feature in both the singles and doubles draws in Rio.
Thirteen of the top 15 men’s singles players and 18 of the top 20 women will participate. There will be 64 players in the singles draws and 32 in the doubles.