Tennis

Defending Wimbledon tennis champion Rafael Nadal has pulled out of this year's tournament because of persistent injuries in both knees. The Spaniard said in London it had been "one of the toughest decisions" of his sporting career.

Nadal's exit, three days before Wimbledon begins, leaves last year's runner-up Roger Federer of Switzerland topping the 2009 favorites. The pair fought a five-set thriller at last year's Wimbledon.

Nadal, who is also the world number one, said he will rest and concentrate on recovering in time to play the US Open, which starts in August. He has been struggling with tendinitis in his knees since being knocked out of last month's French Open.

On Thursday and Friday he tested his fitness at two exhibition matches London's Hurlingham club, losing first against the American Lleyton Hewitt and then the Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka.

Nadal will be the first man not to defend the Wimbledon crown since Croatia's Goran Ivanisevic skipped the grasscourt event in 2002. Had he contested Wimbledon, then Nadal would have had a first-round tie against France's Arnaud Clement, a potential second-round clash against Hewitt, and a potential semi-final showdown with world number three Andy Murray of Britain.

Commentators say Nadal's woes are a legacy of his all-out action style, his devotion to clay courts and the high pace set by tournament calendars world-wide.

ipj/Reuters/AFP/dpa

Editor: Nigel Tandy