Rafael Nadal withdraws from Laver Cup due to ‘personal reasons’
Rafael Nadal withdraws from Laver Cup due to ‘personal reasons’
Rafael Nadal will skip the Laver Cup next year due to ‘personal reasons’ after an emotional post-match news conference.
The 38-year-old said he was ‘not 100 per cent’ sure he would be able to travel to America to defend his title, as he was struggling to play after suffering a foot injury.
Rafael, who had said he did not know if he would play in the first week – having last played in the competition in December 2010, when he won his 10th ATP title – said:
“After two months, I am still not 100 per cent in the game. I can’t tell you if I’ll be able to go, but it’s more difficult for me to play at the top level at the moment.”
The Spaniard, who has won 15 ATP titles, later revealed he had gone through a’very difficult’ time since retiring, when asked about his future plans.
“I have to manage my health, manage my career and I want to come back one day, but I need to have new and healthy ideas in my head,” he said.
“There’s a lot of work to do and I don’t have the answers yet. I don’t know what the next step will be, but I’ll do everything to be ready for it.
“We’ll see in a couple of weeks, in a few days we’ll see. I don’t know if I can go. I’m not 100 per cent sure.”
Nadal said he felt like his body was “running out of fuel”.
“I’m not an extremely fast man, but in a race I could have been faster than last week,” he added.
Following two months off, Nadal is back to being a three-time finalist at the French Open.
The former world No. 1 said of his fitness: “It’s been good. The last two tournaments I played I think I was a little bit tired,