‘I am confident that I will recover again,’ says Rafael Nadal as injury forces him out of US Open
Rafael Nadal has been forced to call a premature end to his 2021 tennis campaign due to injury, but the 20-time Grand Slam winner has vowed that he will return to action.
Having missed Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics due to a foot injury that flared up at the French Open, Nadal only made his return to competitive action at the Washington Open a fortnight ago.
After losing in the round of 16 against Lloyd Harris, the Spaniard then withdrew from Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Masters to give his foot time to heal ahead of the US Open.
However, he has now confirmed that the injury is a lot more serious and he will miss the final Grand Slam of the year at Flushing Meadows while he also decided to end his season.
“I am very sorry that I have to announce that I will not be able to keep playing tennis during the 2021 season,” he said.
“As you know I have been suffering too much with my foot for the last year now. I missed a lot of important events like the US Open now, Wimbledon, the Olympics and many other events that are emotional for me.
“After coming back from Toronto, I took a couple of days to think about it, talk with my family, with my team and with my doctor to understand what is going on, but the foot is not well and the last year I have not been able to practice and prepare myself the way that I need to to be competitive at the standards that I want to be.
“We had to take that decision, but I am confident that I will recover 100% and I will be able to fight again for the most important things.”
It is the same injury that saw him miss the final few months of the 2005 season and the 2006 Australian Open.
The world No 4 added: “The injury is nothing new, it is the same injury that I have had since 2005 and at that time the doctors were very negative about my future career, but I was able to have a career that I never dreamed about.
“I am confident that I will recover again and if the foot is better I am confident that my tennis and mentality will be there again soon. You can be sure that I am going to fight every single day to make that happen.”
Defending champion Dominic Thiem, five-time winner Roger Federer and 2016 champ Stan Wawrinka have also pulled out of this year’s US Open.
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