Injury blighted Rafael Nadal again as he pulled out of his Paris Masters semifinal on Saturday, meaning top-ranked Novak Djokovic will go for his fifth title at the indoor tournament against Denis Shapovalov.
Fans hopeful of seeing a 55th career matchup between Nadal and Djokovic in Sunday’s final were disappointed to learn, moments before the second semifinal was scheduled to begin, that Nadal withdrew because of an abdominal injury. The same injury forced Nadal out just before the start of last year’s tournament at Bercy Arena and ended his season.
“I went through this in the past, so that’s why the recommendation of the doctors (was) to not play,” Nadal said. “I have to take that decision.”
The second-ranked Spaniard said he felt the injury flare up in the morning as he practiced a few hours before facing the 20-year-old Canadian. A scan revealed a small strain. Nadal returned to practice and still felt pain serving. He decided it wasn’t worth risking a bigger injury.
Last year, Nadal missed the season-ending ATP Finals in London because of the abdominal injury, but hopes he can recover in time for this year’s finals starting on Nov. 10.
“I hope to be ready for London, that’s the biggest goal now,” he said. “I will do all what’s possible to recover for it.”
Earlier, Djokovic reached his sixth Paris Masters final beating Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (5), 6-4.
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He is aiming for a 77th career title and has a 3-0 record against Shapovalov.