Video Related To: Pau Gasol replaces Nadal as Spanish flagbearer

Olympic champion Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from the London Games because of injury deprived the tournament of one of its biggest attractions and left Spain reeling on Thursday. The gold medal winner in Beijing four years ago has failed to recover from a knee problem, and also misses out on the honour of carrying his nation's flag at the opening ceremony. The Spanish tennis federation (RFET) said Feliciano Lopez would be his replacement in the singles while the country's Olympic committee (COE) said a meeting on Friday would decide on a replacement flag bearer for the July 27th parade. "I'm not in a condition to be able to compete," Nadal, 26, said in a statement. "It's one of the saddest moments of my career." Nadal won a record seventh French Open title in June but crashed out in the second round at Wimbledon in a massive upset against lowly ranked Czech Lukas Rosol. Earlier this month, he pulled out of a charity match against Novak Djokovic at Real Madrid's Bernabeu stadium saying he was suffering from tendinitis and needed to rest. Nadal had hoped to return to Wimbledon this month to defend his Olympic title and his withdrawal echoes his plight of 2009 when a similar knee problem meant he had to withdraw from the grasscourt Grand Slam, a year after winning it for the first time in an epic final against Roger Federer. "I have to think of my colleagues, I cannot be selfish and I have to think of the well-being of Spanish sport, especially Spanish tennis, and let a <b>...</b>