World number-one Tennis player, Rafael Nadal on Wednesday announced his withdrawal from upcoming tournaments in Beijing and Shanghai due to the right knee injury that forced him to retire from the US Open earlier this month.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion had to pull out during his semi-final against Juan Martin del Potro in New York and also missed Spain’s Davis Cup defeat by France last weekend.
The 32-year-old said he visited doctors in Barcelona on Monday and was advised not 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,” Sports24 quoted Nadal as saying.
“I am 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.”
The Spaniard is also the defending champion in Beijing, where he beat Nick Kyrgios in the finals last year. He was also runner-up in Shanghai, denied by champion Roger Federer.
Missing the two tournaments next month leaves the door open for Novak Djokovic to finish 2018 top of the ATP world rankings, despite another positive season for Nadal.
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