Spanish world number two Rafael Nadal won’t be participating in next week’s Thailand Open after the doctors advised him to rest and recover from a stomach muscle injury that affected much of his play during the US Open earlier this month.
“Nadal has informed organisers that he has an acute rupture of the right abdominal muscle and would like to withdraw from the Thailand Open,” Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand President Suwat Lipatapanlop was quoted as saying.
This served as the second time that the Spaniard pulled out of this Southeast Asian tournament. In 2007, he was forced to pull out due to knee injury.
The $608,500 tournament, which starts from September 26 to October 4, will still have a strong field of ATP stars including defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, world number ten Gilles Simon of France and Russia’s Marat Safin.
