Top ranked Tennis player Rafael Nadal on Tuesday announced his decision to withdraw from the ATP tournaments in Beijing and Shanghai as a result of the knee injury. Earlier this month, the same knee injury had forced him to retire from the US Open semi-final.
World No.1 and defending US Open champion Nadal was forced to retire-hurt from his semi-final encounter against Argentine Juan Martin del Potro following a knee injury. The Spaniard had reportedly sustained the injury during the four-hour long quarter-final, but it aggravated in the next match forcing him to give-up his chance of defending the title.
He also missed Spain’s Davis Cup encounter against France last week, in which his side lost to the defending champions.
The 32-year-old said, reports NDTV that he had visited doctors in Barcelona on Monday and following discussions he has made the decision to play neither the ATP 500 event in Beijing nor the Masters 1000 in Shanghai.
“While the annoyances on my knee are nothing new, we have decided together with my medical and technical team not to participate in the Asian tour to recover the knee the way we have always done,” said Nadal, reports the website, on Wednesday.
Also Read: Rafa Nadal ‘vows’ to fight back after US Open semi-final injury
“I’m sorry I can’t be with all the fans in China and with the organisers of the Beijing and Shanghai tournaments that have always had a great relationship with me and my team,” he added.
The 17-time Grand Slam winner is the defending champion at the Beijing tournament, where he had defeated Nick Kyrgios in the final last year. He was also the runner-up in Shanghai and had lost the final to eventual winner Roger Federer in 2017.
Nadal had clinched both the French Open and the US Open in 2017 and returned this year to claim his 11th title at the clay court in Paris.
At the Wimbledon, however, Nadal had lost to champion Novak Djokovic before the knee problem hampered his progress at Flushing Meadows.