Rafael Nadal withdraws from Laver Cup due to ‘personal reasons’
Rafael Nadal returned home to Madrid on Monday, three days after suffering a left eye injury in a tournament that had been dubbed the toughest in tennis.
The Spanish tennis player, who has been struggling with a problem with his left eye for a little over a year, was scheduled to play a doubles match against Dominic Thiem on July 3 in Madrid.
Nadal withdrew, and the organisers are not only left without a top-level player but also without an opportunity to compete in the competition due to his absence.
The players are now awaiting an official decision by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), who have been given the final approval on Monday afternoon.
Nadal was originally scheduled to play at the event, but was forced to withdraw when he suffered the injury.
The event is set to begin on July 3, and will be played between players from the top ten on the ATP rankings.
It is also set to be the final event of the season for the French Open champions, as the 2019 season comes to an end.
Nadal will be replaced by former Wimbledon winner Ernests Gulbis, who was also scheduled to play in Madrid, on the same court as Thiem.
In his first year at Roland Garros, it is hard to ignore the fact that the French Open is the last major tournament where Nadal would have expected to be playing, given he has not won a grand slam title since 2012.
The last time he played the tournament was in 2013 and after the last time he played the event in 2013, he retired in the final and received the Grand Slam trophy from Roger Federer, one of the sport’s greatest champions.
Nadal is now ranked no.5 in all of the majors, with both Roger Federer’s record and Nadal’s ranking being no better than the world No.7 spot with a chance being that of Federer on the ATP Tour at the moment.
He will be replaced by one of the sport’s leading players in the first-ever player ranked over No.10, who was ranked no.7 in the world last year.
On Monday, Nadal took to Facebook to express his disappointment at the decision to withdraw, writing: “