Staff Reporter.
Rafael Nadal will miss next week’s Barcelona Open and continue building his match fitness following a hip injury sustained at the Australian Open in January, the 22-times Grand Slam champion said on Friday.
Nadal skipped tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami as well as the ongoing Monte Carlo Masters after suffering the injury that effectively ended his Melbourne Park title defence as he crashed to a second-round defeat by Mackenzie McDonald.
“Barcelona is a special tournament for me, because it’s my adopted club and playing at home is always a unique sensation,” the 36-year-old Nadal said on Instagram.
“I’m still not ready and therefore I continue my preparation process for the return to competition.”
The Spaniard, a 14-times French Open champion, hopes to be fully fit for the clay court Grand Slam starting in May.
Meanwhile Russian Andrey Rublev overcame some second-set nerves to dispatch German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff and reach the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Masters with a 6-1 7-6(5) victory on Friday.
Rublev lost the first game on his serve before bagging six in a row in a quick opening set, but Struff, the world number 100, found his stride in the second as the fifth seed showed signs of nerves.
Rublev broke for 4-3, only for Struff to break back in the following game and force a tiebreak, in which the Russian regained his composure to prevail on his second match point.
He will face either American Taylor Fritz or defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in Sunday’s final.