Rafa Nadal withdraws from Queen's

Nadal, 32, comes into the grass court season off a terrific clay court period that ended with him winning his 11th French Open crown, beating Dominic Thiem in the final.

He had been expected to use Queen's as his primary preparation for Wimbledon but has now had to pull out.

"Queen’s is a great event, I have happy memories of winning the title in 2008 and I wanted to come back this year,” said Nadal. "But it has been a very long clay court season for me with great results.

"I would like to say sorry to the tournament organisers and most of all to the fans that were hoping to see me play, but I have spoken to my doctors and I need to listen to what my body is telling me.”

The news comes as a blow for the organisers after the good news that three-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic had accepted a late wild card to play at Queen's for the first time in eight years.

A statement on the tournament's website read: "Rafael Nadal has today informed us of his decision to withdraw from the Fever-Tree Championships, that starts on Monday.

"Nadal, who completed a Roland Garros-Queen’s-Wimbledon treble 10 years ago, had intended to return to try to do the same again as part of the strongest entry list in the tournament’s history. His five Wimbledon final appearances have all come after reaching the quarterfinals or better at The Queen’s Club, but after playing 27 matches on clay over the last two months and winning an 11th Roland Garros title at the weekend, he has decided that he needs time on the sidelines to recover."

Tournament Director, Stephen Farrow said “We are obviously disappointed that Rafa has decided that he is unable to play this year, but we wish him well and hope to see him on our courts in the future,

"At the same time, we are thrilled to have added Novak Djokovic to a line-up that already includes so many of the best players in the world. We remain on track for a fantastic week of tennis at the Fever-Tree Championships and we can’t wait to get started."