PARIS, October 31, 2018

Rafael Nadal withdrew from the Rolex Paris Masters. The top seed from Spain was scheduled to play his second round match against compatriot Fernando Verdasco and will be replaced by Tunisian lucky loser Malek Jaziri.

Nadal is suffering from an abdominal injury. With his Bercy withdrawal, Nadal has now withdrawn or retired from four of the five hard-court draws he has entered this year. The only time he competed on that suface was in Toronto, where he won the title.

.@RafaelNadal explique son forfait pour le tournoi.
Rafael Nadal explains his withdrawal from the tournament. #RolexParisMasters pic.twitter.com/Z6kEvR2ZP5

— ROLEX PARIS MASTERS (@RolexPMasters) 31. Oktober 2018

“It was great to be here in Paris for a couple of days and practise with the guys,” Nadal was quoted on the ATP World Tour website. “I enjoyed it [and] I felt in terms of tennis better than one week ago. But in the past few days, I started to feel a little bit [of an] abdominal [injury], especially when I was serving. I checked with the doctor and he said that he recommended to not play, because if I continued the abdominal may break and could become a major thing. And I really don’t want that.”

With Nadal’s withdrawal from the final ATP Masters 1000 event of the season, Novak Djokovic will be No. 1 in the ATP Rankings on Monday. The 31-year-old from Serbia is the first player to be ranked outside the Top 20 then No. 1 in the same season since Marat Safin in 2000. Djokovic was as low as No. 22 in 2018. Safin was ranked World No. 38.