Rafael Nadal withdraws from Rotterdam

As was expected, world no. 2 and the 20-time Major champion Rafael Nadal will not compete in Rotterdam for the first time since 2009, withdrawing due to back issues.

Nadal competed in the Rotterdam final 12 years ago and will not seek another title next week, deciding to take more time off the court following a back injury that he has carried since the Adelaide quarantine. Thus, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev should be the leaders of the strong draw that will miss four top-20 players.

Besides Nadal, Matteo Berrettini, Denis Shapovalov and Pablo Carreno Busta have also withdrawn, opening the door for some of the lower-ranked players to chase a deep result and valuable points.

Rafael Nadal reached the Australian Open quarter-final despite a back injury, winning the opening two sets against Stefanos Tsitsipas before the Greek prevailed 3-6, 2-6, 7-6, 6-4, 7-5.

"It is with great sadness that I have to forfeit from Rotterdam. As most of the fans know, I suffered some back problems in Australia that started in Adelaide and continued during Melbourne. We found a temporary solution that allowed me to play without pain in the second week of the tournament. Once I got back to Spain I visited my doctor and together with my team they've advised not to play this upcoming week.

I was really looking forward to coming back to Rotterdam and The Netherlands since it's been a while I played there and this was the perfect year for my calendar. I hope to come back and play there soon. All the best to the tournament, always a top class event," Rafael Nadal said.