Rafael Nadal has confirmed the news that he will not be playing the Miami Open starting later this month. He is in the process to recover from a back injury in time for the clay-court swing.
He has not played since his dramatic quarter-final exit to Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Australian Open last month. He also skipped the ATP 500 event in Dubai. The Spaniard dropped down one place in the rankings to third after Russian Daniil Medvedev surpassed him earlier this week.
"Sad to announce that I won't be playing in Miami, a city that I love," Nadal posted on Twitter on March 16. "I need to fully recover and get ready for the clay-court season in Europe. Special message to my fans in the US and in particular to the great Spanish-speaking community FL, who always gives me great support!"
Nadal has never won the Miami Open tournament despite reaching the finals five times between 2005 and 2017. The 34-year-old tennis player might be targeting the Monte Carlo Masters in April and the Madrid Open in May. He is in the works to get into top shape for the French Open at Roland Garros where he won 13 times.