Rafael Nadal pulls out of Wimbledon due to persistent wrist injury

Rafael Nadal will not compete at Wimbledon this year due to a wrist injury. Nadal, 30, withdrew from the French Open after reaching the third round stage in May, revealing that he was forced to play with injections due to the pain in his left wrist.

Having consulted his doctors, the Spaniard, who is a two-time winner at SW19, has decided to pull out of the third major of the year.

He wrote through his Facebook page: "Hi everybody. I'm sad to announce that after talking to my doctors, and receiving the results of my last medical review, I will not be reliable to play at Wimbledon this year. As you can all imagine, it's a very tough decision, but the injury I suffered at Roland Garros needs time to heal."

Nadal's uncle and coach Toni revealed earlier this week there was still no timetable for his nephew's return to action. The Spaniard is still hoping to be fit in time to carry his country's flag at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, which begins on 4 August. Injury ruled him out of the 2012 Games.

Despite claiming 14 grand slam titles during an illustrious career, Nadal has been plagued by injury in recent years with back, wrist and knee problems taking their toll. The 2016 edition of Wimbledon will be the 10th major tournament he has been forced to miss through injury.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is also a doubt for June's major. The Frenchman has pulled out of Queen's Club due to an adductor injury, a problem that forced him to retire at Roland Garros in his third round against Ernests Gulbis.

Meanwhile Roger Federer, who also missed the French Open with an injury, looks more likely to play Wimbledon after getting off to a winning start on grass in Stuttgart. He beat 18-year-old star Taylor Fritz 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to set up a quarter-final clash against Florian Mayer.

Federer has now drawn level with Ivan Lendl on 1,071 wins, the second-most match wins in the Open Era. Jimmy Connors is the overall leader with 1,256 victories.