Rafael Nadal withdraws from Laver Cup due to ‘personal reasons’
Rafael Nadal is unable to compete in the Laver Cup due to personal reasons.
The seven-time Masters champion will not be able to travel to London for the tournament in a fortnight’s time, the organisers said on their official site on Tuesday (April 2).
Nadal is now expected to compete in his other three clay courts tournaments against Juan Monaco and two other former Grand Slams champions: David Goffin and Juan Martín del Potro.
Nadal’s withdrawal is the latest setback for the tennis tournament, which has now seen three different sponsors for the event and has been plagued with scheduling and marketing issues ever since it was launched in March this year.
The tournament only has around two weeks of live television coverage each month and has only been able to attract an audience of about 100,000 over the past four years.
A statement on the Laver Cup’s site read: “Rafael Nadal (30) has decided not to travel with his team, due to personal reasons.
“During the week following Roland Garros, Laver Cup will announce their head coach and the list of team members will be updated. Thank you to our sponsors, who are supporting us every day to bring Laver Cup to the fans; we will carry on as always.”
The event’s organisers have now given the go ahead for another former French Open champion, former United States Open champion Jarkko Nieminen to take over as head coach for the event, with the event’s new sponsor, the Italian energy drink company, Energy Drinks, taking over as title sponsors.
The tournament last week said an “extremely close team” including former Laver Cup chief executive and marketing director John Woodcock had been appointed to look after day-to-day operations of the event.
Speaking about the appointment, Laver Cup promoter Paul McBeth said: “This is obviously a very difficult time for everyone associated with the event.
“We have great respect for Rafa and Jarkko, who have worked wonders with us in the past, and we wish them the