Rafael Nadal Withdraws From Cincinnati Masters After Rogers Cup Win

Rafael Nadal captured his 33rd Masters 1000 title with a 6-2, 7-6 win over the young Greek rising star Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Rogers Cup on Sunday and immediately after, the Spaniard announced his decision to withdraw from the upcoming Cincinnati Masters.

It was Nadal’s first Masters Series win on hard courts since 2013 and it was the best possible start he could have had ahead of the U.S. Open at the end of the month. The world number one came through a tough quarter-final against Marin Cilic, but looked in imperious form in the last two games.

Nadal looked untouchable in the first set breaking Tsitsipas twice on his way to a 6-2 win and it looked like he was going to conclude the second in similar fashion when serving for the title at 5-4. But, the Greek sensation was not about to go down without a fight as he broke the Spaniard.

The 17-time men’s singles Grand Slam champion had to save a set point and force it into a tie-break, where he prevailed 7-4 after being a mini break down in the initial stages. Nadal, who won his 80th ATP title on Sunday, admitted it was an unbelievable feeling to hold the trophy for the fourth time in his career.

"If you told me this two weeks ago I would not have believed it," Nadal told ESPN immediately after the match. "It’s a great way to start the hard-court season. Winning in Toronto is so important. You don’t win Masters 1000s very often. It’s a very important victory for me and I’m very happy."

"It's great news. It's a tournament that I won four times," Nadal added. "Canada is a place that I feel comfortable. I play well. That's it. And I played with the Canadian colors during the whole event."

"The 80th tournament win is of course a great number, an important one. I'm very happy. But it's about another Masters 1000. Masters 1000s are tournaments that are so difficult to win, sometimes are even more difficult to win Masters 1000s than Grand Slams because you can't avoid tough opponents. And that's it."

The Cincinnati Masters is next on the calendar ahead of the final Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows later in August, but Nadal confirmed he will be skipping the event in order to rest his body before the U.S. Open, where he is the defending champion.

“No other reason than personally taking care of my body and trying to keep as healthy as I feel now,'' Nadal said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Nadal reserved special praise for his opponent Tsitsipas, who has had a sensational week in Toronto. He became the youngest player to ever beat four top-10 players on his way to the final.

Tsitsipas beat Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Kevin Anderson on his way to the summit clash, and will reach a career high number 15 in the ATP world rankings this week. He will be the only teenager ranked in the top 20 and Nadal believes he has a great future ahead of him after praising his all round game.

“Yeah, he’s a great player,” Nadal said, as per the Express. “He has all the shots — a good serve and he’s good on the baseline both back and forehand.”

“He's brave, he's young and he's got the right energy so he has a great future."