The three biggest names in men’s tennis who are tied for the all-time record of 20 career Grand Slam titles are carrying knocks with the start of the U.S. Open approaching.
Via the official National Bank Open website, Rafael Nadal confirmed Tuesday he is removing himself from the Toronto tournament running this week because of the left foot injury that kept him from competing at Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics.
Both world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are also sidelined while trying to reach full fitness ahead of the year’s final Grand Slam that begins in New York City on Aug. 30.
“I have had this issue for a couple of months, as people know,” Nadal said Tuesday. “Of course, it is not a happy situation after all the success that I had here in Canada, not being able to play this year after missing a year. It’s a tough one, but that’s how it is today.
“I need to go back and try to find a way to be better again. At the end of the day, for me the most important thing is to enjoy playing tennis. Today, with this pain, I am not able to enjoy it, and I really don’t believe that I have the chance to fight for the things that I really need to fight for.
“I really wanted to play here a lot, but now is the moment to make a decision, and this is unfortunately the decision that I have taken, and probably in the next couple of days we are going to know more.”
Nadal, 35, played in the Citi Open held in Washington, D.C. last week, where he fell to Lloyd Harris in a third-round match on Thursday.
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