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Rafael Nadal ends tennis season, to miss 2021 U.S. Open

Rafael Nadal announced Friday that he will miss his second-consecutive Grand Slam tournament due to his lingering foot injury. File Photo by Ray Stubblebine/UPI
1 of 5 | Rafael Nadal announced Friday that he will miss his second-consecutive Grand Slam tournament due to his lingering foot injury. File Photo by Ray Stubblebine/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Spain's Rafael Nadal will not participate in the 2021 U.S. Open later this month in Queens or at any other tennis tournament this year, the No. 4 player in the ATP rankings announced Friday.

Nadal cited his left foot injury, which lingered throughout his 2021 campaign and also forced him to miss Wimbledon 2021 last month in London and the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.

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"I am very sorry to announce I will not to be able to keep playing tennis in the 2021 season," Nadal said in a video posted to Instagram.

"As you know, I have been suffering too much with my foot for the last year now."

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Nadal, 35, advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2021 Australian Open in February in Melbourne. He played an additional four ATP events before he lost to No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the semifinals of the 2021 French Open in June in Paris.

He returned to the court earlier this month for the Citi Open, but lost his quarterfinal match to Lloyd Harris of South Africa. Nadal withdrew from the Canada Open two weeks ago due to the lingering injury.

"I needed to talk with my family, with my team and with my doctors especially to understand what is going on," Nadal said. "But the foot is not the proper way today and during the last year I was not able to practice and prepare myself the way I need to to be competitive at the standard I want to be.

"So we had to take that decision, but I am confident that I will recover myself 100% and I will be able to fight again for the most important things."

Nadal said he first dealt with the foot injury in 2005, but overcame the issue to produce one of the most storied tennis careers history. He is tied with No. 9 Roger Federer of Switzerland and Djokovic with 20 Grand Slam titles, the most ever for a men's player.

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Federer announced last week that he will undergo surgery and also miss the 2021 U.S. Open. Defending champion Dominic Thiem of Austria announced his withdrawal from the tournament earlier this week. Thiem, ranked No. 6, is out due to a wrist injury.

Nadal and Federer also missed the 2020 U.S. Open. Nadal is a four-time champion in Queens and claimed his last crown in 2019. Federer owns five U.S. Open titles.

The 2021 U.S. Open runs from Aug. 30 to Sept. 12 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Djokovic can complete a rare calendar year Grand Slam if he wins the tournament, due to his 2021 titles at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon.

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