ROTTERDAM, February 9, 2017

ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament director and former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajiicek and his team, who are staging the first ATP 500 event of the season at Rotterdam’s Ahoy Arena next week, had some tough days at the office.

Two days ago, designated top seed Stan Wawrinka pulled out due to a knee injury, which also hampered him at the Australian Open last month.

“Test results today showed that he is not able to play matches as a result of his knee. The medical advice came as a complete and unpleasant surprise – not just for us, but for him as well,” Krajicek told.

On Thursday afternoon, Melbourne runner-up Rafael Nadal announced his withdrawal from the tournament. The Spaniard wrote on facebook:

The event has been entertaining Dutch fans since 1974 and continues to attract a world class field. Despite the withdrawals of the two superstars, Rotterdam is still to feature 11 of the world’s Top 25 players, including Dominic Thiem, David Goffin, Tomas Berdych, Grigor Dimitrov and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.