RAFAEL NADAL PULLS OUT OF ROLEX PARIS MASTERS • DEL POTRO OUT OF NITTO ATP CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENTION

Written by: Staff on 3rd November 2017

RAFAEL NADAL PULLS OUT OF ROLEX PARIS MASTERS • DEL POTRO OUT OF NITTO ATP CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENTION

epa06305786 YEARENDER 2017 OCTOBER Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts after falling during his men's singles first round match against Lucas Pouille of France at the China Open tennis tournament at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, China, 03 October 2017. EPA-EFE/ROMAN PILIPEY |

Nadal out of Paris Masters, Del Potro out of London contention

By Ricky Dimon

Rafael Nadal pulled out from his scheduled quarterfinal match at the Rolex Paris Masters on Friday afternoon due to a right-knee injury. Nadal was less than 100 percent in the latter stages of a 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 win over Pablo Cuevas on Thursday, but he eventually survived that battle after two hours and 20 minutes.

The world No. 1 warmed up earlier on Friday before deciding that he could not take the court for his match.

“Yesterday the pain during the match was too much, but I didn’t want to stop,” Nadal said. “It’s not the thing that I love to do. I have to pull out. Of course it’s a very tough decision for me, especially here in Paris, which has been the most important city in my career without a doubt. It’s a tough situation, but I tried my best. I did one treatment yesterday night to try and play today.”

The Spaniard, who clinched that year-end top spot in the rankings with his second-round victory over Hyeon Chung, is questionable for the upcoming Nitto ATP World Tour Finals in London. He has one week in between Paris and London with which to recover.

“I’m not thinking about London,” Nadal explained. “It’s about the longer term–to be able to continue playing tennis. It’s important to play tennis as long as possible. The knee is always bothering me a little bit, but sometimes it’s worse. I’m going to go back, check again with the doctors (like) I did after Shanghai…. Let’s see. I’m going to do my treatment. In the past it worked well.”

The only way Juan Martin Del Potro will play in London is if Nadal–or someone else–withdraws. Del Potro’s quest for top-eight qualification ended one step short, as he lost to John Isner in the quarterfinals when a semifinal spot would have been enough. Isner prevailed 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4 to end the Argentine’s hopes.

The 6’10” American is now two victories away, himself, from the eighth and final place at the O2 Arena.

“It was very satisfying and I was confident going into this match,” Isner commented. “I took the court knowing that I’ve been playing pretty well. And also playing with a bit of house money after yesterday, being down 5-2 in the third set (against Grigor Dimitrov). I sort of escaped yesterday and was given some new life today and I think I took advantage of it.

“Going into this tournament I wasn’t thinking about [London] at all. I was sort of thinking about what football games I’m going to watch back home when this tournament is over. But now–I’m certainly I’m not going to lie to you guys–it’s in my mind. It would be great to qualify for that.”