Tennis icon Rafael Nadal has taken his name back from the Cincinnati Masters after he lifted his record 35th ATP Masters 1000 title in Montreal. Nadal has withdrawn from the competition in a bid to prepare for the US Open. Notably, this is the second year in a row that Rafa will not participate in the Cincinnati Masters.
Nadal announced that he will not participate in this competition only after a few hours he had won his fifth ATP Montreal title 6-3, 6-0 against Russian Daniil Medvedev.
“I am very sorry to announce that I won’t be playing in Cincinnati this year,” the Spaniard posted on Facebook.
“No other reason than personally taking care of my body and trying to keep as healthy as I feel now.”
“I’m sure the tournament will be a success and I wish him and his team all the best,” he added.
Nadal, who is currently ranked number two in the world will go into the US open with only one match practice in hard-court.
Neither of his arch-rivals- Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer, world number one and three respectively, have played a game after they featured in the Wimbledon final- which was clinched by Djokovic.
However, both Federer and Djokovic will participate in the Cincinnati Masters, while Federer will try and win his eighth title, Djokovic will begin the tournament as the defending champion.