Injury rules Rafael Nadal out of Cincinnati Open
Spanish ace Rafael Nadal has pulled out of the impending Cincinnati Open due to an injury on his left foot. The development comes after Nadal withdrew from the hard-court tournament in Toronto owing to the same issue. This means the 35-year-old, who had also skipped Wimbledon and Tokyo 2020 Olympics, is unlikely to play before the US Open. Here are further details.
Nadal recently featured in the Washington Open where he defeated Jack Sock in the Round of 32. However, the former was stunned by SA's Lloyd Harris in the following round. Prior to that, he had pulled out of Wimbledon and Tokyo Games after a "demanding clay-court season". Earlier, Nadal was denied his 14th Roland Garros title after Novak Djokovic beat him in the semis.
It will be interesting to see if Nadal shows his presence at the US Open. He owns four US Open titles (2010, 2013, 2017, and 2019), joint-second-most along with John McEnroe in the Open Era. By winning one more, the former will join Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors, and Federer (5 each) at the top. Nadal has a win-loss record of 64-11 in the tournament.
Nadal had decided to skip the US Open amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. He won the 2019 edition after beating Daniil Medvedev in the final. This was Nadal's 19th Grand Slam title. He has captured another major after that (2020 French Open).
Along with Nadal, Canada's Milos Raonic, also pulled out of Cincinnati Open on Wednesday with a heel injury. The likes of Roger Federer, Djokovic, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, and Sofia Kenin are the other absentees. Notably, the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati will run from August 14 to 22. Meanwhile, the US Open is set to commence on August 30.
