Brandon Nakashima (ATP Tour - Twitter)
Brandon Nakashima is expected to be out of action from the ATP tour for more than a month
US Tennis star Brandon Nakashima has pulled out of this month’s Barcelona and Madrid Open due to a knee injury. Nakashima has already missed the ATP Houston Open and the Monte Carlo Masters and he is set to be out for a further period which is estimated to be at least one month. The ATP Barcelona Open is set to begin on April 17 while the Madrid Masters is scheduled to begin on 25th April.
Nakashima has had a pretty disappointing season so far and the injury only makes things worse. He announced his withdrawal on social media: “After consulting with multiple doctors, my doctor and I decided to withdraw from Barcelona and Madrid in the upcoming weeks due to a knee injury. Health is always top priority and in order to get back to 100% competing, we need to take these weeks for full recovery and rehab. Thank You to everyone for the support.”
The 21-year-old hasn’t been able to find consistency this season and suffered early exits from most of the tournaments he participated in. Besides Nakashima, Sebastian Korda and Rafael Nadal are two notable names who have withdrawn from the Barcelona Open due to injuries.
Nakashima has become the third player after Nadal and Korda to withdraw from the ATP Barcelona Open. Nadal was expected to make a comeback on the ATP tour and play at the Barcelona Open to get a feel of the clay surface. However, the Spaniard revealed yesterday that he hasn’t yet fully recovered from his hip injury and hence, he won’t be able to participate in the event.
The 22-time Grand Slam Champion has been out of action with a hip injury since the Australian Open earlier this year. Nadal was expected to make a comeback during the clay-court season, but the injury has forced him to withdraw from another event. The Spaniard hasn’t played a match since his second-round loss at the Australian Open. Nadal is patiently waiting for a full recovery before coming back but it’s not certain when he will eventually be able to play. While Nadal won’t participate in the tournament, other top ATP stars like reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev and Casper Ruud are set to feature in this ATP-500 event.
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