Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from Montreal as he continues to deal with an abdominal injury that he suffered at Wimbledon.
The 22-time grand slam champion suffered the injury during his quarter-final epic with Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon where Nadal won a last set tiebreak to reach the last four.
However Nadal had to withdraw from his semi-final with Nick Kyrgios after suffering a mini-tear in his abdomen as his dreams of winning a first Wimbledon title since 2013 was dashed.
Revealing the news at Wimbledon, Nadal said it would take four weeks for the injury to heal so it was always going to be a race against time to back in time to play the Rogers Cup in Montreal.
Now it turns out Nadal has lost that race although he said in the press release that things are moving in the right direction, “I have been practising for a while now without serving and started with serves 4 days ago,” Nadal said.
“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.
“I would like to thank Eugène, the Tournament Director, and all his team for understanding and supporting me and this decision. I am very sad not to finally travel to Montréal. 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.”
It means that Nadal will have to wait until the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati to return to action as he looks to continue his preparations for the US Open.
As for the field in Montreal the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Carlos Alcaraz will still compete in Canada.
Although tournament director Eugene Lapierre is disappointed not to have Nadal, he is excited to still have some world class players in action, “We are obviously disappointed that Rafael will not be with us this year,” Lapierre said in the press release.
“A five-time champion of our tournament and the last men’s champion in Montreal (2019), fans were obviously eager to see him back in action at the IGA Stadium.
“On the other hand, when we take a broader perspective, we still have a very strong board with the presence of 41 of the 44 best players in the world. With such a strong field, it is a safe bet that the IGA Stadium will once again showcase very exciting tennis!”
The draw will take place on Friday with main draw action in Montreal beginning on Monday.
