Rafael Nadal's Rotterdam return will have to wait.
The second-ranked Spaniard has withdrawn from next week's ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament because of the back injury he suffered during the Australian hard-court swing.
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“It is with great sadness that I have to forfeit from Rotterdam. As most of the fans know, I suffered some back problems in Australia that started in Adelaide and continued during Melbourne,” Nadal said in a statement. “We found a temporary solution that allowed me to play without pain in the second week of the tournament. Once I got back to Spain I visited my doctor and together with my team they’ve advised not to play this upcoming week.
“I was really looking forward to coming back to Rotterdam and The Netherlands since it’s been a while I played there and this was the perfect year for my calendar. I hope to come back and play there soon. All the best to the tournament, always a top class event.”
Back pain forced Nadal out of the ATP Cup played at Melbourne Park prior to the Australian Open start.
The withdrawal denies Rotterdam fans their first Nadal sighting at the event since 2009 though there's still a loaded field.
World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev, fresh off his run to the Australian Open final on Sunday, replaces Nadal as the top seed in Rotterdam, which begins on March 1st.
“As it would have been Nadal’s first appearance in Rotterdam since 2009, we were really looking forward to greeting him in Rotterdam for the first time,” tournament director Richard Krajicek said. “We will definitely miss him next week. Fortunately we still have a great list of players left, with players like Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev.”
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve