Rafael Nadal officially withdraws from the US Open due to wrist injury

Today Rafael Nadal officially withdrew from the US Open with the right wrist injury he sustained in practice at the end of July. He made the announcement via his Facebook page:

I am very sorry to announce I won’t be able to play at this year’s US Open a tournament on which I’ve played 3 consecutive finals in my last participations. I am sure you understand that it is a very tough moment for me since it is a tournament I love and where I have great memories from fans, the night matches, so many things… Not much more I can do right now, other than accept the situation and, as always in my case, work hard in order to be able to compete at the highest level once I am back.

Siento anunciar que no podré participar en el US Open, torneo en el que en los últimos años he tenido muy buenos resultados. Entenderéis que es un momento duro para mi porque es un torneo que me encanta y en el que tengo muy buenos recuerdos, de los fans, de los partidos nocturnos, de tantas cosas. No me queda otra que aceptar que no puedo competir este año y como siempre trabajar para que cuando vuelva esté preparado de la mejor manera para competir.

Roger Federer, who won the Cincinnati Masters over the weekend, will take over as the second seed. Here's the potential list of the men's top eight seeds: 1. Novak Djokovic 2. Federer 3. Stan Wawrinka 4. David Ferrer 5. Milos Raonic 6. Tomas Berdych 7. Grigor Dimitrov 8. Andy Murray

It's never good news when a top baller withdraws from a major, especially when he's the defending champion. He had such a sensational season last year after dealing with another injury-induced absence from the ATP tour. Let's hope Rafa's recovery is swift and he's back in action soon.

[Photo(s) credit: Getty Images]