Xinhua News Agency, Madrid, September 19th, the world’s No. 1 male tennis player and Spanish star Nadal announced on the 19th that he would miss the China Open and Shanghai tennis Masters in early October due to a knee injury.
32-year-old Nadal announced the news on Twitter. “Knee pain is a common occurrence for me. I discussed with my medical and technical team and decided to give up this Asian trip to treat my knee. I am very sorry that I can’t see Chinese fans this year, as well as the organizing committee of China net and Shanghai Masters. You have always been very supportive of me and my team.”
Nadal was the defending champion of men’s singles in China Net. He also entered the final in the last Shanghai Masters competition, but lost to his old rival Federer. Nadal has been suffering from injuries in the 2018 season. When he played Argentine player del Portro in the beautiful grenadine semi-final this month, he announced to withdraw due to knee pain after losing two sets in a row. He also failed to represent Spain in the subsequent World Group semi-finals of Davis Cup men’s tennis team games.
If the knee injury recovers well, Nadal plans to participate in the Paris Masters competition at the end of October, which is also the last competition before the ATP year-end finals.