World number one Rafael Nadal will miss Spain's Davis Cup final against Argentina this month after failing to recover from tendinitis in his right knee.

The French Open and Wimbledon champion said the decision to withdraw had been extremely difficult and added he had done everything possible to get fit but had decided to obey his doctors' orders.

"I am used to playing with pain but this was a new and different pain I cannot control," he told a news conference.

"I am not feeling that great. These are very hard choices when you are an individual player, even more when you are playing doubles, but much more when it's about a Davis Cup team."

Olympic gold medallist Nadal, who took over as number one from Swiss Roger Federer in August, has blamed his injury on an overloaded tennis calendar.

The injured knee forced him to pull out of the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai and he also had to retire from his Paris Masters quarter-final against Nikolay Davydenko last month.

The athletic Mallorcan has played 93 singles matches this year.

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