Rafael Nadal pulls out of 2022 Canadian Open due to injury

Rafael Nadal's recovery from injury was dealt a huge blow as the Spaniard was forced to withdraw from next week's Canadian Open. The World No. 3 announced his decision on Friday, stating that he felt 'discomfort' during his training session on Thursday and that he has decided to skip the Masters 1000 event in Toronto.

Making the announcement on Twitter, the 36-year-old said that he would skip the event in Toronto and not take the big risk of forcing his comeback.

"We have decided not to travel to Montréal and continue with the training sessions without forcing ourselves," Rafael Nadal said in his statement. "I sincerely thank the tournament director, Eugène and his entire team for the understanding and support they have always shown me and today was no exception."

"I hope to play again in Montréal, a tournament that I love and that I have won five times in front of an audience that has always welcomed me with great affection. I have no choice but to be prudent at this point and think about health," he added.

Nadal did not specify the type of injury, but it could most likely be the abdominal injury he sustained at Wimbledon. The 22-time Grand Slam champion pulled out of the grass Slam after tests showed that he had an abdominal tear. He has since been on the road to recovery and was even seen training at his academy in Mallorca over the last few days.

His Canadian Open withdrawal hampers his preparations for the US Open as he will have little to no match practice before the Grand Slam, depending on his eventual participation in Cincinnati.

The four-time US Open champion said that while his return to training had been going well, he felt discomfort a few days after he started to test his serve.

"From the vacation days and my subsequent return to training, everything has gone well these weeks. Four days ago I also started training the service and yesterday, after training, I had a little discomfort that was still there today," the Spaniard expressed.

In his Wimbledon quarterfinal win against Taylor Fritz, he struggled the most while serving. He got through the match in five sets but withdrew ahead of his semifinal against Nick Kyrgios.

The Spaniard then took a few days off and went on vacation. He began training with some light groundstrokes and less intense rallies. As the days progressed, he increased the intensity of his training sessions.

---

Rafael Nadal could end stellar 2022 season as World No. 1

Among the top contenders for the year-end ATP World No. 1 spot, Rafael Nadal has the least number of points to defend before the end of the season. Nadal will drop points at the Canadian Open next week and has no points to defend thereafter. He ended his 2021 season at the Citi Open and stands to gain points in every tournament he plays from here on.

The Spaniard has won four titles this year, the joint-most on the ATP tour. He won the Melbourne Summer Set and the Australian Open in January, the Mexican Open in Acapulco in February, and his 14th French Open title in June.

He currently has 6,165 ranking points and trails Daniil Medvedev (7,625 points) and Alexander Zverev (6,850 points) in the rankings. Medvedev has the highest number of points to defend before the end of the season.