Rafael Nadal will miss the US Open and the rest of the 2021 season with a foot injury, the Spaniard announced today.
In a video post on Instagram, Nadal said that “I have been suffering too much with my foot for the last year now.”
“During the last year I have not been able to practice and prepare myself the way that I need to be competitive at the standards I want to be [at].”
“I am confident that I will recover myself 100% and be able to fight again for the most important things.”
After losing to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the French Open in June, only his third ever defeat at Rolland Garros, he pulled out of Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics before returning at this month’s Citi Open in Washington, losing in the third round to South African Lloyd Harris. However, he pulled out of the National Bank Open in Toronto ten days ago because of his foot, before deciding that it would be best to miss the rest of the season.
The Spaniard went on to say that “the injury is nothing new. It is the same injury that I have had since 2005 when the doctors were very negative about my future career. But I have been able to have a career that I could never have dreamed about so I am confident that I will recover again.”
The Spaniard’s decision means he joins Roger Federer on the sidelines for the rest of 2021 after the Suisse announced last weekend that he would be undergoing his third knee operation at the advice of his doctors.
The US Open starts on 30 August at Flushing Meadows in New York City, running until 12 September. After winning the first three Grand Slams of the year, Djokovic will be aiming to become the first male tennis player since Rod Laver in 1969 to complete the Calendar Grand Slam. If he does so, he will also move ahead of Federer and Nadal for the most Grand Slam titles, holding the record outright.
Featured image by Mikelokok – Own work, CC BY 4.0; no changes made.
