Top seed Rafael Nadal has pulled out of this week's Mexican Open in Acapulco after aggravating the leg injury that forced him out of the Australian Open last month.
The world number two, who was due to face fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez on Wednesday, said he felt a sharp pain during his final training session on Tuesday and decided not to compete on the advice of his medical team.
“Doctors have told me that it is impossible to play, regardless of whether it hurts,”said Nadal. “There is a significant risk of increasing the injury and I have no choice.
“My goal and hope was to play in this tournament. Unfortunately, in my last training session yesterday, I felt a sharp pain in my leg again,” the 31-year-old Spanish star said hours before what was to have been his opening match of the ATP Tour event in Acapulco.
Nadal limped out of the quarter-finals at the Australian Open on January 23. He has since lost his number one ranking to Roger Federer.
Nadal said doctors in Mexico warned him not to play for fear of aggravating the injury.
“I still don’t know what it is, because we don’t know. It seems it’s not as bad as what I had at the Australian Open,” he said.
This marks the fifth tournament in a row that Nadal has pulled out of or retired from – the Australian Open, Brisbane, London, Paris and Acapulco.
Earlier in the week, the 16-time Grand Slam winner Nadal announced himself fully fit and said he was looking forward to competing again.
“I took a couple of weeks of rest and worked hard on rehabilitation,” he told reporters prior to pulling out. “Last week, I started practicing hard again. I feel ready.”
Nadal is expected to remain at least one more day in Acapulco to have more tests done.
“Maybe it is a minor situation, but the reality is that there is liquid and until it goes down a bit and the relevant tests are done, it will not be possible to diagnose,” he said.
