Nadal Withdraws From Toronto
Second seed Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers due to a left foot injury, the tournament announced Tuesday.
“I have had this issue for a couple of months, as people know,” Nadal said. “Of course, it is not a happy situation after all the success that I had here in Canada, not being able to play this year after missing a year. It’s a tough one, but that’s how it is today. I need to go back and try to find a way to be better again. At the end of the day, for me the most important thing is to enjoy playing tennis. Today, with this pain, I am not able to enjoy it, and I really don’t believe that I have the chance to fight for the things that I really need to fight for.”
Nadal’s left foot injury forced him to miss Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics. The legendary lefty returned last week at the Citi Open in Washington, where he battled through his opening match against Jack Sock in a final-set tie-break before losing against South African Lloyd Harris in three sets in the third round.
“I really wanted to play here a lot, but now is the moment to make a decision,” Nadal said. “This is unfortunately the decision that I have taken, and probably in the next couple of days we are going to know more.”
Fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez will replace Nadal in the draw as a lucky loser. The 39-year-old will play Harris in the second round.