Rafael Nadal officially out of competition for the rest of the year

Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal has shared the disappointing news that he will be missing the upcoming US Open. Not only that, he has basically ruled himself out for the rest of the season in order to give his medical team enough time to help him overcome a persistent foot injury.

Nadal had initially missed both the Cincinnati Masters and Canadian Open earlier this month, but after further assessment, he has decided to extend his break in order to properly address the injury.

The Spaniard took to Twitter to say, "Honestly, I have been suffering a lot more than I should with my foot for a year and I need to take some time Having discussed it with the team and family, this decision has been made and I believe that it is the way forward to try to recover and recover well."

In a lengthy thread, he added that he is still determined to get back into shape and continue competing in the future. "I am convinced that with the recovery of the foot and obviously a very important daily effort this can be achieved. I will work as hard as I can to make it happen," he said.

Nadal has already missed Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics after having put all his efforts into the clay court season earlier in the year. He failed to defend his French Open title, losing a winning streak that dates all the way back to 2016.

Novak Djokovic eventually took the titles in both Roland Garros and Wimbledon. The Serb failed miserably at the Olympics, exiting the competition in a fit of rage. However, after also winning the Australian Open earlier this year, he still has a chance to win a calendar Grand Slam if he bags the US Open title.

Djokovic will also have the opportunity to surpass Federer and Nadal, who both stand level with him on 20 Grand Slam titles each.

Nadal's announcement comes at the heels of Roger Federer's own announcement saying that he will also be out for an extended period as he undergoes and recovers from another knee surgery.