Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - World No. 1 superstar Rafael Nadal held a Friday news conference at the All England Club to announce that he will not defend his title at Wimbledon this year.
Nadal withdrew from the third Grand Slam event of the year as he continues to battle tendinitis in his knees, which also forced him to pull out of a grass- court Wimbledon tune-up tournament at London's Queen's Club last week.
"I'm just not 100 percent," said an emotional Nadal, who described the decision as the hardest of his career. "I'm better than I was a couple of weeks ago, but I just don't feel ready."
The 23-year-old Nadal was stunned by Swede Robin Soderling in the fourth round at the French Open a few weeks ago, marking the Spaniard's first-ever loss at Roland Garros. Nadal was the reigning four-time champion in Paris, riding a 31-match winning streak on the red clay there.
Nadal, who beat Roger Federer in this year's Australian Open final, upset Federer in last year's epic five-set final at the All England Club, halting the Swiss' 40-match Wimbledon winning streak and preventing Federer from capturing a sixth straight title at the AEC. Federer beat Nadal in the 2006 and 2007 Wimbledon finals.
Last year, Nadal became the first Spaniard since Manuel Santana in 1966 to capture a Wimbledon title and the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season.
Federer became the sixth man in history to complete a career Grand Slam by titling at Roland Garros two weeks ago and equaled Pete Sampras with a men's record-tying 14th major title.
Wimbledon 2009 will get underway on Monday, as Nadal was scheduled to meet 2008 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Arnaud Clement of France. Instead, Nadal is the first men's champion to pull out of the event the following year since 2001 winner Goran Ivanisevic decided against playing in 2002.
Former Aussie Open runner-up and former Wimbledon semifinalist Marcos Baghdatis also announced his withdrawal on Friday, citing a knee injury.
The reigning French Open and U.S. Open champion Federer, who will attempt to reach his seventh straight Wimbledon final, will open up against Taipei's Yen- Hsun Lu next week. A potential quarterfinal opponent for the super Swiss could be seventh-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco or ninth-seeded Frenchman Jo- Wilfried Tsonga, last year's Aussie Open runner-up.
A potential semifinal opponent for Federer could be fourth-seeded Serbian star Novak Djokovic. The 2007 Wimbledon semifinalist Djokovic will be opposed by Frenchman Julien Benneteau in the round of 128.
Andy Murray, who is the first British man to be awarded the No. 3 seed here since Roger Taylor in 1973, will battle American Robert Kendrick in round one. The U.S. Open runner-up Murray snapped a 71-year title drought for British men at The Queen's Club last week.
Some other potential quarterfinal matchups in two weeks could pit fifth-seeded Argentine slugger Juan Martin del Potro against big-serving sixth-seeded American Andy Roddick, a two-time Wimbledon runner-up to Federer.
Del Potro or Roddick could face Murray in the semis. Del Potro assumed Nadal's spot in the draw, but is still the fifth seed.