"Sad" Nadal pulls out of US Open

Rafael Nadal issued a statement on Wednesday confirming that he will be unable to compete at the US Open later this month.

“I am very sad to have to announce that I am still not ready to play and that I have to pull out of the US Open […] I have to continue with my recuperation and preparation to get into the right condition to compete,” the 2010 champion at Flushing Meadows said.

The Mallorcan has not been seen on court since a shock loss to then-world number 100 Lukas Rosol in the second round at Wimbledon on June 28. Since then, the world number three has been struggling to overcome an injury to his right knee, which caused him to miss the Olympic Games, where, in addition to defending the gold medal he won in Beijing, he was due to lead the Spanish team at the opening ceremony. Nadal has also missed this month’s Masters 1000 Series tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati, where he would have defended points gained after a quarterfinal showing last year.

After more than a month off court, Nadal returned to training in his native Manacor recently but feels he is not yet ready to play competitively.

At the 2011 US Open Nadal reached the final, losing in four sets to Novak Djokovic. His absence this year makes it likely he will lose third place in the ATP ranking to Andy Murray, and even puts in jeopardy his place in the top five, where the Spaniard has been a fixture for a little over seven years.