ATP: Ankle surgery: Rafael Nadal cancels for ATP finals

Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal has cancelled his participation in the ATP finals (November 11-18) in London due to an operation on his right ankle. That’s what the 17-time Grand Slam champion announced on Twitter.

“I have a free joint body in my ankle that had to be surgically removed on Monday,” wrote Nadal.

Last week, the 32-year-old had already cancelled the Masters in Paris due to an abdominal muscle injury. “Since my abdominal muscle is still causing me problems, we used the time for the additional operation,” said the world runner-up: “In this way I hope that I will be fit again for the next season.

The injured Spaniard would normally be replaced by the US service giant John Isner. Prior to Nadal, Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro had already cancelled his participation in the top eight tournament of the season due to a knee injury. For del Potro the Japanese Kei Nishikori had slipped into the field.

The only German player at the Tour Final in London is Alexander Zverev from Hamburg. With Nadal’s cancellation it is already clear that the Serbian Novak Djokovic will end the tennis year as number one.