Rafael Nadal withdraws from the Australian Open 2013 – Tennis News
French Open champion, Rafael Nadal, withdrew from the Australian Open 2013 as he injected with a stomach virus. The former world number one will not participate in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open as he prioritizes his health more than
minor victories.
In an interview Nadal told the media, “My knee is much better and the rehabilitation process has gone well as predicted by the doctors, but this virus didn't allow me to practise this past week. I am sorry to announce that I will
not play in Doha and the Australian Open, as we had initially scheduled. As my team and doctors say, the safest thing to do is to do things well and this virus has delayed my plans of playing these weeks. I will have to wait until the Acapulco tournament to
compete again although I could consider to play before at any other ATP event.”
The Spanish challenger suffered from the most unexpected defeat in the second round of the Wimbledon Championships 2012 against the Czech contender, Lukas Rosol. The two contenders waged a tough battle stretching over five sets
but the Spaniard was unable to gain the desired results in the end.
Previously, the 26-year-old was expecting to face the British number one, Andy Murray, at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi, but had to pull out of the event due to his stomach bug. However,
Nadal had no hopes of returning until the start of April in the clay court season.
The left-hander was one of the finalists at the Australian Open held at the hard courts of Melbourne in January 2012. He was amongst the top seeded contenders of the Grand Slam tournaments and rallied past the more experienced
Roger Federer, giving him a four sets defeat. In the final round, he was unable to stand the might of the Serbian number one, Novak Djokovic.
The Spanish number one, has the most powerful and effective style when he plays on the clay courts. He is well known for his aggressive and muscular backhands against the challenger. The 11-time Grand Slam champion hopes to maintain
his dominance at the courts of Roland Garros with full fitness and secure his former spot.
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