Rafael Nadal withdraws from Laver Cup due to ‘personal reasons’
Rafael Nadal withdrew from the 2013 Laver Cup Wednesday to a ‘personal reasons’, the day after he lost to David Nalbandian in the doubles competition. His withdrawal caused the draw of the last 32 to be completely re-arranged.
Nadal was scheduled to play Nalbandian in the last eight to determine a champion, but the Spaniard decided to withdraw himself after he felt the warm-up session of his match against Gaël Monfils had gotten off to a bad start. Nadal, who is ranked No. 1 in the world, lost 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (6-3).
The draw for the last 32 matches will be re-arranged once Nadal returns, but first he needs to sort out the details of the withdrawal with Rafael-Trinidad and the American-Bermuda combination after the pair were set to play in the last 16. The final match will be played between the two teams.
Nadal said in a statement, “After yesterday’s match and my personal reasons with the warm-up session, I decided to withdraw from the singles competition and I ask the people involved to respect this decision. As I have already said, I will find another opponent for the doubles competition.”
Rafael Nadal suffered a tough loss on Friday (April 22) when he lost 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (6-3) to David Nalbandian in the doubles match but now that the Spaniard has pulled out of the Laver Cup, he can only choose the teams he wants to play in the last 16. Rafael Nadal will have to choose among the American-Bermuda duo of John Isner and Ryan Harrison, world No. 2 Ryan Harrison, world No. 1 Andy Roddick, defending champion John Isner or his arch-enemy David Nalbandian.
Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Laver Cup due to personal reasons