There will be no Rafael Nadal vs. Lloyd Harris rematch at the National Bank Open. Nadal won’t be playing against anyone else, either.
The fourth-ranked Spaniard announced his withdrawal from Toronto on Tuesday, citing a left-foot injury that has plagued him since the French Open and contributed to his Washington, D.C. second-round loss to Harris last week.
“I have had this issue for a couple of months, as people know,” Nadal explained. “Of course it is not a happy situation after all the success that I had here in Canada, not being able to play this year after missing a year. It’s a tough one, but that’s how it is today. I need to go back and try to find a way to be better again. At the end of the day, for me the most important thing is to enjoy playing tennis. Today, with this pain, I am not able to enjoy it and I really don’t believe that I have the chance to fight for the things that I really need to fight for.
“I really wanted to play here a lot, but now is the moment to make a decision. This is unfortunately the decision that I have taken, and probably in the next couple of days we are going to know more.”
The 20-time Grand Slam champion still has the Cincinnati Masters and the U.S. Open on his summer schedule, although those are obviously dependent on how his foot heals.
Meanwhile, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have already announced their withdrawals from Cincinnati–both doing so earlier this week.
Federer has not played since losing to Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets in the Wimbledon quarter-finals. The 40-year-old Swiss is sidelined by a recurring knee problem. Djokovic, who missed out on an Olympic medal and is apparently dealing with a shoulder issue, posted the following on social media:
“Dear fans, I wanted to share with you that I am taking a bit longer to recover and recuperate after quite a taxing journey from Australia to Tokyo. Sadly, that means I won’t be ready to compete in Cincinnati this year so I’ll turn my focus and attention to US Open and spend some more time with family. See you in New York soon!”
Both Federer and Djokovic had previously pulled out of the Toronto Masters.
US Open:
Djokovic – YES
Federer – NO
Nadal – MAYBE
Age and injury catching up with them all, I’m afraid -Andy, Fed, Rafa, Stan, JWT even Djok, and Dom too, though he’s a bit younger.
Time has also passed by the missed outers like Dimi and Milos, time for Sinner, Korda, Rublev and co to step up.
I also think lock down measures over the past 18 months speeded things up, dammit.
Definitely, lockdown measures gave pause for serious thought. I think it made Nole step on the accelerator this year. the result was 3 GS. Then he got carried away. He pushed it to the limit there in Tokyo and now I wonder if he’ll have enough time to make a push at USOpen. I really don’t care though, he has done enough! I doubt he agrees with me.
Why can’t Dom make a comeback? Perhaps
Best match yesterday: Medvedev vs Bublik – they had to work hard to keep from laughing. I can’t adequately explain.
Del Potro
Yes, Delpo – gone too soon. Wish Andy and Delpo could make another run.
IMO, he pushed it too far; he can’t win the US Open.
When he decided to play in the Olympics, he made a choice that didn’t pay off.
One thing I notice about this site is that when Nadal isnt playing or theres no talk about him, his fans disappear. Even when theres a major tournament
I think that’s actually a huge problem for tennis internationally, not just on individual sites. When the big 3 actually do retire there will be a massive falling off of interest. Their rivalry has generated global interest among people normally not that interested.
Tennis nuts like me of course will remain, but even I don’t feel as passionate or drawn in as I did when Andy was struggling to win his first slam, or get to No 1. For sure I like other players but it’s not the same.
Agree Margot….
If I am still breathing, I will follow tennis. There are times when reality gets in the way and I must face something but I’d prefer to watch tennis or cycling.
Hey Margot/Alison 😊
Sorry, I didn’t get my brackets filled out in time. I started one but got called away. I would have picked Medvedev to win on the men’s side. Happy to see Halep back but I would not have picked her yet. Sabalenka was a good choice out of this draw. Poor Elina Svitolina keeps losing but her husband finally won a match.
Hoping Isner and Opalka lose soon.
Hey Alison…
Come do a bracket or two, just for laughs. It helps depression, at least in my case, but I admit I am an odd one. Your name is still on the Jalep_Wildguess list.
The group that usually shows up for the bracket challenge all made it (Except me, dang it)
Hey girl, Elizabeth I had no idea I was still on the list, it’s been so long since I did a bracket, yeah why not, they were always fun to do, hope your keeping well xx❤️
Hey Alison then okay, I won’t miss it this week. I love seeing who people chose, the more there are the better! Please do give it a go!
The truth is, WTA is nearly impossible to pick the winner right. ATP is a bit easier but soon to have a lot of new pretenders!
Link for The Tennis Draw Challenge
http://www.tennisdrawchallenge.com/
So is this the end of the road for Rafa ? I thought he might be able to pull out 1 or 2 more to close at 22 but it looks very unlikely now. He has had a very bad year at slams this year. I don’t think he will even play USO.
Next year he will be even older .
Fed too I think is done.
How many do we see novak ending at ? Popular opinion is 23-25 but when everything is certain about something ,it never pans out
Maybe re Rafa. I don’t see him playing USO this year. He’ll have to find some kind of solution for his left foot if he’s going to continue to play, but I’m quite sure he hasn’t given up on that yet.
Dunno re Fed. He’s had an amazing run at 35+. At 40+ with a dicey knee and back problems? Be surprised if he plays USO but Laver Cup? He’s been pretty keen on that. But he may try for another comeback for the next Wimbly. Or Djoker for that matter. He’ll have to learn a little more pain tolerance if he wants to do well in the future imo. You can’t play at 35+ and expect not to hurt.