Rafael Nadal confirms he will play Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati ahead of US Open

Rafael Nadal has confirmed he will be playing the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati next week in preparation for the US Open. The 22-time Grand Slam champion pulled out of this week’s Canadian Open due to an ongoing abdominal issue. Ad However, he is set to play in Cincinnati for the first time since 2017.

ATP Montreal'I have to follow the rules' — Why Medvedev thinks missing Wimbledon may help for US OpenYESTERDAY AT 07:59 In a post on Instagram on Wednesday evening, Nadal, who is at home in Mallorca, wrote: “Very happy to play again in Cincy. Flying there tomorrow.” Nadal is expected to be the second seed at the ATP 1000 tournament behind world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev, with world No.

2 Alexander Zverev out due to injury. Nadal has not played since withdrawing from his Wimbledon semi-final against Nick Kyrgios. He aggravated the abdominal issue during his five-set quarter-final win over Taylor Fritz and withdrew from Montreal as he preferred to take a “conservative” approach.

“I have been practising for a while now without serving and started with serves four days ago,” said Nadal in a statement. Alcaraz stunned by Paul in Montreal Williams tributes pour in from younger generation “Everything has been going well. However yesterday, after my normal practice, I felt a slight bother on my abdominal and today it was still there.