Rafael Nadal sports tape on his stomach following a medical timeout during the men's singles quarter-final match on day 10 of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, on July 6.Kirsty Wigglesworth/The Associated Press
The National Bank Open lost one its star attractions on Friday after five-time champion Rafael Nadal announced his withdrawal from the tournament.
The Spaniard said he is still being bothered by a torn abdominal muscle that forced him to pull out of Wimbledon before the semi-finals.
“I have been practising for a while now without serving and started with serves four days ago. 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,” Nadal said in a statement. “After speaking with my doctor, we prefer to take things in a conservative way and give a few more days before starting to compete.”
Nadal, a winner of 22-time major singles titles, was seeded second at the ATP Tour event behind defending champion Daniil Medvedev.
Due to Nadal’s withdrawal, American Mackenzie McDonald moved directly into the main draw.
On Thursday, Novak Djokovic, a winner of 21 Grand Slam titles, withdrew from the Montreal tournament because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19 and is therefore not allowed to enter Canada.
The tournament draw was scheduled to be unveiled Friday afternoon.