Rafa opts for road to recovery
Nadal pulls plug on current campaign in order to focus on getting healthy
Former world No 1 Rafael Nadal called time on his 2016 season on Thursday, saying he needs to fully recover from the left wrist injury he sustained midway through the year.
The Spanish 14-time Grand Slam champion said he would play no more tournaments and will instead begin “preparing intensively” for the 2017 season.
The 30-year-old left-hander was forced to pull out of this year’s French Open before his third-round match, ending his pursuit of an record-extending 10th Roland Garros title. He also missed Wimbledon because of the injury.
Nadal returned to win a gold medal in doubles with Marc Lopez at the Rio Olympics, but his results since have been disappointing. He lost his opening match to Viktor Troicki at the Shanghai Masters earlier this month.
While the original wrist tendon injury has improved considerably, a statement from Nadal’s management said he has a “bone edema” due to an overload on a different area of the joint.
“It is no secret that I arrived at the Olympic Games short of preparation and not fully recovered, but the goal was to compete and win a medal for Spain,” Nadal said.
“This forced recovery has caused me pain since then and now I am forced to stop and start preparing the 2017 season. Now it is time to rest and start preparing intensively for next season.”
Nadal, currently No 6 in the world, was due to play in Basel and
Now it is time to rest and start preparing intensively for next season.” Rafael Nadal, 14-time Grand Slam champion
Paris and was on course to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals, which features the top eight in the rankings.
Nadal’s great career rival Roger Federer will also be missing from the season-ender in London after the Swiss star curtailed his season to recover from a knee problem.
“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 last year,” Nadal said.
Both men were in Mallorca on Wednesday to oversee the opening of Nadal’s new tennis academy.
“Roger and I haven’t forgotten how to play tennis and we are working to get back to competing at the highest level,” said Nadal.
“I still have many years to come in tennis.”
Two titles
Nadal claimed two titles this year, on clay in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, but has looked well short of the ferocious player that once dominated men’s tennis, failing to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time since 2004.
He lost a stunner to fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in the first round of the Australian Open and was beaten by Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the fourth round of the US Open.
Nadal has battled injuries throughout his career — a legacy of the many grueling matches he has endured.
He missed Wimbledon in 2009 after winning the title in memorable fashion against Federer the year before.
He also missed the Olympics and US Open in 2012 with a recurrence of his knee problems and was absent from the 2013 Australian Open because of a stomach virus.
In 2014 a wrist injury kept him out of the US Open before he was sidelined by appendix surgery.