Dream final shattered: injured Nadal withdraws from Paris

This means there will be no dream final between the second-seeded Spaniard and the top-seeded Novak Djokovic. The Serb had previously beaten Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) 7:6 (7:5), 6:4 in the first semi-final.

“It's a super sad moment for me,” Nadal said, explaining: “I think that the abdominal area wouldn't have allowed me to serve at the level I need to be competitive.”

The 33-year-old Nadal still takes the lead in the world rankings from Djokovic by reaching the semi-finals at the prestigious indoor tournament in the Bercy district of Paris, where he only managed to reach the final in 2007. A debut victory in the French capital would have guaranteed him the top position in the ranking at the end of the year.

Now it's all about getting fit for the ATP season finale (November 10th to 17th) in London. The superstar has never been able to win at the end of the season. “I will do everything, everything possible to recover by then,” said Nadal, who felt the injury during a practice session on Saturday. After a medical test that showed hyperextension in the abdominal area, the Mallorcan decided not to compete.

Since his triumph at the US Open in September, the 19th Grand Slam title of his career, Nadal has only played in the Laver Cup, and then took a break due to pain in his left wrist.

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Dream final shattered: injured Nadal withdraws from Paris

Tennis superstar Rafael Nadal had to cancel his participation in the semi-final match at the last tournament of the Masters series in Paris against Canadian Denis Shapovalov due to an abdominal injury.

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