Nadal pulls out of Queen’s again

Tennis: Murray to decide if he will follow

Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s Club – three days after winning his 11th French Open title.

It is the third consecutive year the world number one has entered the tournament, which begins on Monday, only to pull out before the start.

Nadal, 32, said: “Queen’s is a great event. I have happy memories of winning the title in 2008 and I wanted to come back this year. 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 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.”

Nadal last played at Queen’s Club in 2015 and will once again go into Wimbledon without any official grass-court matches. He has struggled at SW19 in recent years.

Queen’s organisers announced the strongest line-up in the tournament’s history and will now wait to hear whether two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray will follow Nadal in withdrawing as the Scot attempts to make his comeback from hip surgery.

Roger Federer returned to action with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Mischa Zverev at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart.

The 36-year-old chose to miss the clay season for the second successive year and was playing his first match since his defeat by Thanasi Kokkinakis in the Miami Open in March.