BRISBANE, January 2, 2019
Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Brisbane International due to injury. The 31-year-old Spaniard already skipped his 3rd place play-off match in Abu Dhabi last weekend after he had lost to Kevin Anderson in three sets at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship.
Nadal’s last 13 hard court events:
Brisbane 18: Withdrew
Aus Open: Retired
Acapulco: Withdrew
Indian Wells: Withdrew
Miami: Withdrew
Toronto: Win
Cincinnati: Withdrew
US Open: Retired
Beijing: Withdrew
Shanghai: Withdrew
Paris: Withdrew
ATP Finals: Withdrew
Brisbane 19: Withdrew— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) 2. Januar 2019
“I feel myself good, but after a long period of time without competing, I felt a little bit the leg, the tightening in Abu Dhabi the first match. That’s why I didn’t play the second. So I came here. I did an MRI, and it shows a very small strain on the left thigh, but it’s there. And my feelings are not bad,” Nadal stated.
“I practice every day. I tried to play and I still wanted to play. But all the recommendations from the doctors, the two doctors from here and the doctors from my confidence in Spain tell me that even if my feeling is better, my feeling is much better today than three days ago, after they analyze the images, they say if I play here, there is a risk, important risk to don’t have the chance to play Melbourne.
“I have been positive. I feel my body better than last year. That’s an accident that happened product of being out of the competition for a while. I have to accept that. I have to be ready to understand that this kind of stuff happens when you’re coming back from injuries. I have to accept and keep going. Of course, it’s very tough for me to be here.
“As I said before, and especially for the tournament, especially for the fans, that this is the second year that they don’t going to have the chance to watch me play here. But no doubt that the person that is more affected and the person that suffers more in this situation is me.”
Nadal will be replaced in Brisbane by lucky loser Taro Daniel of Japan, who will face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round of the ATP 250 event.
