February 2, 2025

Open Court

MORE TENNIS THAN YOU'LL EVER NEED

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The sore lower back that visibly hampered Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open still isn’t right.

And so the world No. 2 has pulled out of a planned participation in the ATP 500 in Rotterdam next week.

Nadal had skipped the ATP Cup, held the week before the Australian Open, because of the back.

Nadal got through his earlier-round matches.

But when he went up two sets to none against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals, and the Greek star brought it to a fifth set, it was pretty clear that Nadal had reached the end of the road.

Here’s what he looked like midway through the Australian Open, at a practice session.

Nadal’s withdrawal virtually guarantees that Daniil Medvedev, who is just 115 points behind him in the rankings, will take over the No. 2 spot.

Medvedev becomes the top seed in Rotterdam.

Meanwhile, Nadal also announced he won’t be playing Acapulco, either.

See details in the post below.

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