Nadal pulls plug on 2016, race for No. 8 World Tour Finals spot becomes interesting

Rafael Nadal announced on Thursday that his 2016 campaign is over, thus confirming rumors that had been running rampant since the Spaniard fell to Viktor Troicki in round two of the Shanghai Rolex Masters. Nadal cited a recurring wrist injury–which sidelined him from the early stages of the French Open until the Rio Olympics–as the main reason for his decision.

The former world No. 1 concludes his year with a modest 39-14 record that features titles on red clay in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. Perhaps most notably, Nadal initially played through his wrist issue at the Olympics and placed fourth in singles while winning the doubles gold medal with Marc Lopez.

He will likely spend much of the offseason at The Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain. The 14-time major champion, with special guest Roger Federer on hand, officially opened his new academy on Wednesday.

One day later, his mood was less enthusiastic.

“I am forced to stop and start preparing the 2017 season,” Nadal wrote on Facebook. “Now it is time to rest and start preparing intensively the 2017 season. I am very saddened for not being able to play next week in Basel since I have a great memory of the tournament and the final played against Roger Federer last year. I won’t be able to compete either in Paris-Bercy, where the crowds and the FFT staff have always treated me so well.”

The list should also include the World Tour Finals, although Nadal may have purposely left that out since he had not yet officially qualified.

With Nadal gone, Tomas Berdych now assumes the all-important eighth spot. His advantage over No. 9 David Goffin, however, would dwindle to as few as 30 points if Goffin lifts the trophy at this week’s 250-point event in Antwerp. Nadal’s absence also gives No. 6 Gael Monfils and No. 7 Dominic Thiem some much-needed breathing room in their bids to make London debuts.

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