Nadal out of Australian Open

Rafael Nadal pulled out of the Australian Open yesterday, claiming he was still suffering from the stomach virus which caused him to cancel his return to action in the Gulf this week after a six-month absence.

Nadal has also withdrawn from the Qatar Open which starts on Monday and where he was due to play his first official tournament since losing in the second round at Wimbledon in June.

The Spaniard, who has been sidelined with a crippling knee injury, had already missed the Olympics, the US Open and Davis Cup final.

“My knee is much better and the rehabilitation process has gone well as predicted by the doctors, but this virus didn’t allow me to practise this past week and therefore I am sorry to announce that I will not play in Doha and the Australian Open, as we had initially scheduled,” the 26-year-old, world number four said in a press release.

Nadal will also face a drop in the rankings having been runner-up to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final in 2012.

But doctors have told him that the gastroenteritis which left him with a high fever for five days requires a week’s break from sport.

His medical team claim that would leave him with insufficient time to prepare for the season’s first Grand Slam event which gets underway on January 14.