Nadal out of Rotterdam along with Monfils and Raonic

Rafael Nadal had been scheduled to make his first appearance at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament since 2009, when he finished runner-up to Andy Murray.

Those plans changed on Thursday, when the world No. 2 withdrew citing a back injury that plagued him during the Australian summer. Nadal was sidelined from the ATP Cup but managed to play the Aussie Open, in which he advanced to the quarterfinals with no problems of any kind before falling to Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets. Even at 100 percent, there is little reason for the Spaniard–who no longer has a chance to pass Novak Djokovic for the No 1 ranking this spring–to travel to Rotterdam in the middle of a pandemic for an indoor hard-court tournament.

This would have been Nadal’s third-ever appearance at the 500-point event in Rotterdam.

Among others who have withdrawn are Gael Monfils, Milos Raonic, Denis Shapovalov, Matteo Berrettini, Pablo Carreno Busta, Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz, and Dan Evans. Monfils would have been the two-time defending champion at this year’s tournament. As a result of those absences, Kei Nishikori gained direct entry into the main draw and no longer needs his wild card. That freed up a wild card for Dutch veteran Robin Haase.

Despite those withdrawals, the field for next week’s festivities remains strong. Headliners are Tsitsipas, Nishikori, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Roberto Bautista Agut, David Goffin, Stan Wawrinka, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Jannik Sinner. Wawrinka finished runner-up to Monfils in 2019 and Auger-Aliassime did the same last February.

Medvedev is making his fourth trip to the ABN AMRO. He reached the quarterfinals in his 2018 debut and the semis in 2019 before losing in round one to Vasek Pospisil last year.

The Australian Open runner-up would pass Nadal for the No. 2 spot in the rankings if he reaches the Rotterdam final.