Nadal drops out of doubles in Brazil as Almagro wins

Rafael Nadal withdrew from the doubles tournament at the Brazil Open at the 11th hour on Wednesday night, with the ATP giving the official reason as "over-use of the knee." Nadal and partner David Nalbandian had won their first match in São Paulo against Spaniards Daniel Gimeno-Traver and Albert Ramos, but after a punishing run in Chile last week, where Nadal lost in both the singles and doubles finals, racking up 10 games in five days, the world number five announced he would not continue in the format in Brazil.

Nadal, who won the tournament in his only previous appearance as a teenager in 2005, and Nalbandian had complained about the state of the courts on Wednesday and the quality of the balls chosen for the tournament. The Spaniard, who is returning from a serious knee injury after seven months on the sidelines, slipped on court during the competitive match and during practice. He was scheduled to play João Sousa at 11pm CET on Thursday in the singles.

Earlier on Thursday, Nicolás Almagro played Chilean qualifier Paul Capdeville, who defeated Horacio Zeballos, Nadal's conqueror in the epic Viña del Mar final last week, in the second round. Almagro, the defending champion and world number 11, was taken to three sets by the world number 151 but prevailed 6-4, 6-7, 6-2. Almagro is seeded second this year behind Nadal, with a projected final between the two on Sunday. Albert Ramos, the eighth seed, fell to Carlos Berlocq later Thursday.