Nadal’s hopes of No 1 return dented by latest injury setback
▶ Spaniard to lose ground to Federer by missing Indian Wells and Miami
Rafael Nadal hopes of a quick return to world No 1 have been dented with the news that the Spaniard will have to sit out both the Indian Wells and Miami Open tournaments this month as he recovers from a leg injury.
The 16-time major winner has reaggravated the ailment that forced him to retire from his quarter-final at the Australian Open in January, and he is now facing a race against time to be fit for the start of next month’s clay court season.
Nadal, a three-time winner at Indian Wells and five-time finalist at Miami, suffered his latest setback during a training session on Tuesday that forced him to pull out of this week’s Mexican Open in Acapulco.
“Unfortunately, the injury I suffered in Acapulco before starting the tournament is in the same area as the one suffered in Melbourne,” Nadal said on his Facebook page.
“I won’t be able to play in Miami or Indian Wells as I need to recover.
“It was very painful to retire from Acapulco and it’s very hard as well to not play in the USA. I will miss you and I will do everything that’s possible to be back there in 2019.”
This is the latest setback for the Spaniard, 31, who had to end his successful 2017 campaign early and withdraw from the ATP World Tour Finals in London in November after playing one match due to a knee injury. That hampered his build-up to the 2018 season, with Nadal pulling out of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi in December, as well as playing no competitive games before the Australian Open.
Indian Wells begins next week while the Miami Open follows two weeks later, with both being ATP Masters event and carrying the most ranking points outside the grand slam tournaments.
Nadal had lost the world No 1 spot, which he had regained for the first time in three years in August, to his old rival Roger Federer last month when the Swiss player reached the semi-finals in Rotterdam, before going on to win it.
Nadal has lost further ground to Federer already by not competing in Mexico, having reached the final there 12 months ago. He will lose 300 ranking points when the new ATP list is published tomorrow, leaving him on 9,460, now 600 behind his arch-rival.
But, he will drop even more points over the next few weeks as well, with his inaction at Indian Wells and in Miami.
He reached the fourth round in Indian Wells last year and then was a finalist in Miami. Those endeavours earned him a combined 690 points, which he will now lose.
Federer won both tournaments in 2017 and has 2,000 points to defend. It is possible, if unlikely given the 36 year old’s current form that has seen him win all 12 of his competitive matches this season, that if he lost in his opening match at the pair of events that he would lose sufficient points for Nadal to go back to the top without playing.
Regardless of what happens Nadal will not drop below No 2 in the rankings going into the European clay court season, which starts in Monte Carlo in mid-April. He will be 4,590 points ahead of No 3 Marin Cilic, who can not bridge that gap, even if he won in Indian Wells and Miami.
Nadal is the second high-profile player in as many days to withdraw from the tournaments after former world No 3 Stan Wawrinka’s persistent knee injury would keep him from competing. Andy Murray, the three-time major winner, is also out as he recovers from hip surgery. Novak Djokovic, the 12-time major winner, has, like Nadal, not played since the Australian Open due to an elbow problem.
Regardless of what happens Nadal will not drop below No 2 going into the European clay court season mid-April