World #4 Rafael Nadal has announced that he will miss the upcoming US Open and the rest of 2021 season due to a foot injury.
In a series of Spanish tweets, Nadal made public of this revelation less than two weeks before the final Grand Slam of the season takes place in New York.
The Spaniard explained that the nature of the foot injury that he aggravated during the course of his illustrious career caused him too much pain to bear.
Nadal relinquished his Roland Garros crown a few months ago when he lost in the semifinals to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
He subsequently withdrew from the Wimbledon Championships and the Olympic Games, but made his return in the North American hardcourt swing at the ATP 500 tournament in Washington.
The former world #1 won an entertaining three-set match against Jack Sock in the second round, but fell to South Africa’s Lloyd Harris in the next round.
His withdrawal for the remainder of the season means that he won’t have a chance to win a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam singles crown at the US Open. And consequently, it will mark the first time since 2016 that the Spanish left-hander has missed out from winning at least one of the four most prized assets in men’s tennis in a calendar year.
Nadal on his decision to end 2021 season
"In this last year I've missed things that are important to me like Wimbledon, the Olympics and now the US Open and other events…."In this last year I've not had the ability to train, prepare and compete in the way I truly like to" https://t.co/HNOk8UtJ8B
— Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 (@christophclarey) August 20, 2021
Rafael Nadal joins rivals Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem in the recuperation room
Nadal joins fellow “Big 3” rival Roger Federer on the treatment table. The Swiss, also on 20 Majors, will undergo his third surgery to repair his knee and hasn’t set a timeframe on his return. Reigning champion Dominic Thiem will not return to defend his US Open title from 2020 due a to persistent wrist injury.
For the second straight year: No Federer & no Nadal at the US Open. They really are never going to play there (exhibitions don't count) pic.twitter.com/Q8sOCFpGzO
— Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 (@christophclarey) August 20, 2021
And there are major question marks on Djokovic’s fitness ahead of the big event in New York. The world #1 returned home from the Tokyo Olympics empty-handed, and admitted to feeling fatigued and injured.
Djokovic hasn’t appeared in competitive action since losing to Pablo Carreno Busta in the Bronze Medal match. He pulled out from the two preparatory Masters 1000 tournaments for the US Open to give himself more time to recover.
For Nadal, he shuts down his 2021 season with a 25-5 record and having won two titles.
Will Rafael Nadal return back to his best in 2022?
