Daniil Medvedev became the highest-ranked player to exit the French Open after losing a marathon encounter against Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild on a windy Tuesday.
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Nadal’s elimination shakes up the men’s draw and puts a twist in the Grand Slam titles race, with nine-times champion Novak Djokovic able to draw level with the Spaniard’s 22 major championships should he take a 10th crown at Melbourne Park.
“I have to pull out of the tournament as I have been suffering with pain in the abdomen,” said the 36-year-old.
Djokovic is bidding for a seventh title at the All England Club to move level with US great Pete Sampras.
The 24-year-old withdrew from the Italian Open in May, though she did feature at the French Open later that month, where she bowed out to Amanda Anisimova in the first round. Osaka had previously suggested she might snub SW19 after the tournament was stripped of ranking points.
Nadal has returned to his house in Mallorca, less than three weeks before the start of Wimbledon on June 27.
The Spaniard, looking for a 14th Roland Garros title, battled to a 6-2 4-6 6-2 7-6 (7-4) victory over the defending champion
The quarter-final clash between Nadal and Djokovic was earmarked as the highlight of this year’s major at Roland Garros.
Top seed Djokovic produced his best level so far at Roland Garros to win 6-1 6-3 6-3 in the fourth-round match.
The Romanian was playing in a second-round match against Ekaterina Alexandrova and was down a break in the third set when the incident happened.
Nadal won 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 on centre court.
The four-time Grand Slam champion suffered the injury in her opening match in Madrid earlier this month, before struggling in a second-round loss to Sara Sorribes Tormo.
The Australian, who has won three grand slams and is the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, said she was retiring from the sport to “chase other dreams”.
Osaka’s absence was confirmed by organisers on Wednesday, with the Indian Wells Masters scheduled to take place from October 4 to October 17 after the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The third seed allayed any fears about a lack of matches during what has been a turbulent year after her withdrawal from the French Open and decision to skip Wimbledon.
The 20-time grand slam champion, who won his fourth Flushing Meadows title two years ago, is still troubled by the foot injury he aggravated at the French Open.
The world No 2 pulled out of the French Open in early June citing mental health issues, having refused to attend press conferences at the tournament.
The No. 2 ranked tennis player in the world was knocked out of the tennis tournament in the third round Tuesday by Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, 6-1, 6-4.
Djokovic defeated Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany 6-4, 6-3 in the men’s singles, while aiming to become the first man to win all four Grand Slam titles and Olympic gold in the same year.
The world’s No. 3 player sustained the injury in May during the second round of a clay-court tournament in Rome and missed the French Open.