The Scotsman

Injuries force out Nadal and Sharapova

- By EVE FODENS

Rafael Nadal has announced he will not be taking part in next month’s China Open and Shanghai Masters due to his knee injury.

The world No 1 was forced to retire from his US Open semi-final against Juan Martin del Potro earlier this month because of the problem in his right knee.

And Nadal wrote on Twitter yesterday: “This past Monday I was in Barcelona looking with the doctors at the situation of my knee.

“While the discomfort in my knee is nothing new, we decided together with my medical and technical team not to participat­e in the Asian tour so we can help the knee recover in the way we have always done.”

The 32-year-old Spaniard added: “I regret not being able to be with all the fans in China.”

The China Open in Beijing starts on 1 October and the Shanghai Masters begins seven days later.

Last year Nadal won the former event and finished runner-up at the latter.

Maria Sharapova, meanwhile, has announced that she will end her 2018 season early.

The Russian has withdrawn from the China Open in Beijing, the Tianjin Open, and the Kremlin Cup in Moscow due to her recovery from a right shoulder injury.

“I will miss competing at each of these tournament­s, but it is important that I allow for proper rest and recovery in the upcoming weeks,” Sharapova said in a statement on the WTA website.

Sharapova, ranked 24th in the world, was the defending champion at Tianjin.

The five-time major champion lost in the first round at Wimbledon this year and the in the fourth round of the US Open.

The WTA said Sharapova expects to start her 2019 season at the Shenzhen Open, which begins on 31 December in the southeast Chinese city.

Elsewhere yesterday, top seed and defending champion Jelena Ostapenko won her opening match at the Korea Open, defeating 2016 winner Lara Arruabarre­na 6-3, 6-3 in Seoul.

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