World No. 2 Rafael Nadal Withdraws From Shanghai Masters

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal announced Friday that he has withdrawn from Shanghai Masters, an ATP 1000 event that he is yet to win, due to a left-hand injury.

The injury had earlier forced Nadal out of Laver Cup last month. It left a lot of fans disappointed because Nadal was scheduled to play a doubles match for Team Europe partnering Roger Federer. He had also missed a singles game against Australian Nick Kyrgios.

According to media reports, if Nadal missed the Shanghai Masters - a tournament where he has finished as the runner's up in 2008 and 2017 - he would definitely show up at Rolex Paris Masters, scheduled to begin on Oct. 28. Following that, the former No. 1 player would play at the year-ending ATP Tour Finals, a title that has eluded his decorated CV so far.

If injuries further kept away from Nadal, he would then team up with his countrymen to play in the Davis Cup finals in Madrid which will commence on Nov. 18.

Nadal, earlier, had heaped praises on Chinese fans calling them one of the best groups across the globe.

"They are very passionate, no? It is great that we have good fans all around the world. Tennis is a global sport, and I think that's one of the keys to our success, like, in sport. Here in this part of the world is good to be playing during some parts of the year, because the fans are very passionate and of course is special play in front of them," the Spaniard said.

Nadal's withdrawal has given defending Shanghai Masters champion Novak Djokovic a chance to reduce the gap in the ATP World Tour Final race to London. Djokovic, who trails Nadal by 1,780 points, could earn 500 points if he wins in Tokyo and add another 1,000 points with the Shanghai title.

The World No. 6 Alexander Zverev is the defending champion in 2019 Nitto ATP World Tour Finals, which is scheduled to be played from Nov. 10 to 17 in London.