Rafael Nadal pulls out of the Paris Masters, Djokovic to face Shapovalov in final

The Spaniard suffered an abdominal injury while arming up for the semi-final against Shapovalov.

Second seed Rafael Nadal has decided to pull out of his semi-final match against Denis Shapovalov at the Rolex Paris Masters. The decision was made after the tournament doctor deemed him unfit to compete after experiencing pain in his abdominal area while warming up.

The decision was made at the last minute and fans were left wondering what was happening, as they sat in the arena waiting for the players to emerge. "We were looking at our watches and waiting for the walk on at 3.30pm and when it didn't happen everyone was looking at each other," said Sam Smith, as quoted by Express.

The spectators were soon informed about the injury and the fact that there would be no semi-final match between the crowd-favourite Spaniard and Shapovalov. The Canadian is now due to face top seed Novak Djokovic in the final on Sunday.

Nadal spoke to the press to shed light on what happened. He said that while he was making one of his final serves during practice, he felt something in his abdominal region. He consulted the tournament doctor and underwent some tests. A slight strain was seen in his abdominal area. After trying to serve again, he realised that the pain would not allow him to compete.

"Finishing out like this is always a very negative thing, but the rest of the things of the week have been very positive... I enjoyed a lot playing here in Bercy, after a while without being able to enjoy this atmosphere in this amazing stadium, and I enjoyed playing good tennis," he said.

Earlier in the tournament, Nadal raised concerns after he called for treatment during his match against Stan Wawrinka. It is unclear if the abdominal issues he had on that match are related to the strain that caused his withdrawal. At that time, Nadal had assured fans that there was nothing to worry about.

Despite pulling out, Nadal will start the coming week as World Number One. He will try his best to recover quickly so that he can secure his spot as the year-end no. 1 at the upcoming Nitto ATP Finals.