Rafael Nadal has announced that he is withdrawing from the upcoming Montreal Open as he continues to recover from an abdominal injury suffered in July at Wimbledon. In a statement, Nadal shared that his injury has not healed sufficiently in order to play in Montreal, so he will continue to take time off to recover ahead of the US Open in late August.
“I have been practicing for a while now without serving and started with serves four days ago,” read Nadal’s statement via Tennis Canada. “Everything has been going well. However yesterday, after my normal practice, I felt a slight bother on my abdominal and today it was still there. After speaking with my doctor, we prefer to take things in a conservative way and give a few more days before starting to compete.
The 36-year old Spaniard aggravated an ongoing abdominal issue that began at WImbledon when he suffered a seven-millimeter abdominal tear during a victory over Taylor Fritz in his quarterfinal match. The injury forced Nadal to withdraw from the semifinal, ending his chances of a calendar Grand Slam and continuing a recent trend of injuries.
“I am very sad not to finally travel to Montreal,” Nadal said. “It’s a tournament that I have won 5 times and I love to play there. I seriously hope I can come back there to play in front of the amazing crowds up there.”
Despite multiple injuries — Nadal also missed all of April with a cracked rib — he has had an excellent season with a 35-3 record in matches and two Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and Roland Garros.
