Nadal withdraws from Montreal because of a “slight bother on (his) abdominal”
Rafael Nadal will not travel to Canada to compete at the Montréal Masters. His abdominal injury from Wimbledon had not disappeared completely.
Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Rogers Cup (Montreal Masters 1000), which will take place next week (Aug. 8-14), due to “slight bother on (his abdominal)” at practice. He tweeted it in Spanish on Friday, revealing the problem had happened the day before.
Nadal has not played on tour since the abdominal strain that forced him to miss his Wimbledon semi-final against Nick Kyrgios on July 7.
Nadal’s statement :
“I have been practicing for a while now without serving and started with serves four days ago. Everything has been going well. However yesterday, after my normal practice, I felt a slight bother on my abdominal and today it was still there.
“We prefer to take things in a conservative way and give a few more days before starting to compete.”
Rafael Nadal
“After speaking with my doctor, we prefer to take things in a conservative way and give a few more days before starting to compete. I would like to thank Eugene, the Tournament Director, and all his team for understanding and supporting me and this decision.
“I am very sad not to finally travel to Montréal. It’s a tournament that I have won 5 times and I love to play there. I seriously hope I can come back there to play in front of the amazing crowds up there.”
Nadal, 36, has won 22 major titles. He is a five-time champion at the ATP 1000 event in Canada, which is a US Open tune-up event. The US Open is scheduled between August 29 and September 11. The Cincinnati Masters 1000 (Aug. 15-21) is the last chance for Nadal to play competitive tennis on hard courts before the year’s final major.