The National Bank Open men’s tournament has lost another big name.
The Montreal event announced Friday that Spain’s Rafael Nadal has dropped out because of an abdominal injury,
“I have been practising for a while now without serving and started with serves four days ago. Everything has been going well. However yesterday, after my normal practice, I felt a slight bother on my abdominal and today it was still there,” said Nadal. “After speaking with my doctor, we prefer to take things in a conservative way and give a few more days before starting to compete.”
The 22-time Grand Slam champ, who pulled out from the Wimbledon semifinals with the injury last month and hasn’t played since, is the second marquee player to drop out of Montreal in as many days.
Novak Djokovic officially bowed out on Thursday. Because he is unvaccinated, Djokovic can’t enter Canada.
Nadal is a five-time National Bank Open champion.
American Mackenzie McDonald now avoids qualifying, taking Nadal’s spot.
The draw for the tournament will be held Friday afternoon.
