Rafael Nadal has announced that he will miss the remaining of the 2021 season due to a chronic foot injury.
The World No. 2 already pulled out of the Masters tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati and will be out of the US Open as well.
Dominic Thiem, the defending US Open champion and five-time winner Roger Federer has already pulled out of the season’s final Grand Slam earlier this week.
Nadal made his announcement on his Instagram profile.
“Honestly, I have been suffering a lot more than I should with my foot for a year and I need to take some time.”
“Having discussed it with the team and family, this decision has been made and I believe that it is the way forward to try to recover and recover well.”
“I am determined to do whatever it takes to regain the best possible shape, to continue competing for the things that really motivate me and the things that I have done during all these years.”
“I am convinced that with the recovery of the foot and obviously a very important daily effort this can be achieved. I will work as hard as I can to make it happen.”
The four-time US Open champion and winner of 20 Grand Slam titles in total missed Wimbledon and the Olympic games in order to recover from the clay court season and be ready for the US Open.
Nadal suffered a foot injury at the French Open in June, where he failed to make it to the final match for the first time since 2016 after Novak Djokovic stopped him in the semi-finals.
The final Grand Slam of the season begins on Monday, August 30, at the courts in Flushing Meadows.
Novak Djokovic will have a chance to get to the 21st career Grand Slam title. The Serb has won 20 so far, as many as Nadal and Federer.
