Rafael Nadal abdominal injury causing ‘discomfort’ as he withdraws from Canadian Masters

Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from Montreal, saying he is not yet over the abdominal injury that forced him out of Wimbledon.

Nadal sustained the injury in the Wimbledon quarterfinal against Taylor Fritz. He was able to win the match, but withdrew before the semi-final.

He was due to play a full US Open series, where a good performance would give him a great chance of securing the year-end world number one spot.

However, he will no miss at least the first leg of that having pulled out of the Canadian Masters.

“From the days on holiday and my subsequent return to training, everything has gone well these past weeks,” Rafael Nadal said.

“Four days ago, I also started training on my serve and yesterday, after training, I had a little discomfort that was still there today.

“We have decided not to travel to Montreal and continue with the training sessions without forcing ourselves.

“I sincerely thank the tournament director, Eugene, and his entire team for the understanding and support they have always shown me, and today has been no exception.

“I hope to play again in Montreal, a tournament that I love and that I have won five times in front of an audience that has always welcomed me with great affection.

“[However,] I have no choice but to be prudent at this point and think about health.”

Novak Djokovic has also withdrawn due to him being unable to gain entry to the country, while Andy Murray has received a wild card.

Murray, though, will be in the main draw proper on his ranking alone if just two more players withdraw.

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