Nadal reveals why he has withdrawn from the tournament in Abu Dhabi

MADRID (Reuters) – Rafael Nadal lost his first match since retiring from tennis in September after being beaten by South African Kevin Anderson in Abu Dhabi's semifinal of Abu Dhabi before Announce its withdrawal from third place Saturday.

Anderson, ranked sixth in the world, beat Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the second round of the game.

"I had a difficult match between three teams, I had not played any team before coming here," said Nadal, referring to his absence from the competition since his withdrawal from the Flushing Championship semi-finals. Meadows against Juan Martin Del Potro in September.

"At the same time, I feel pain after a long time without playing, so Saturday I will not play," added the Spanish, adding, "I'm going to take a break for a few days." The season has begun for me, being here was a goal in itself. "

After suffering a knee injury, Nadal took advantage of the absence of an ankle surgery in November to tackle a previous problem and resumed training two weeks ago.

"When you play after a long time and have had an operation about a month ago, it is normal to suffer," said Novak Djokovic, who was missing because of his absence. The way I played. "

He stressed that his game "is a step forward for me".

Nadal is scheduled to play his first game of the season next week in Brisbane, Australia, where he will compete at the Australian Open, the first grand slam of the season, scheduled from January 14th to 27th.

"My goal is to be ready for the Australian Open and I think I'm on the right track to do it, but of course, I can not take too much risk after the surgery. "said Nadal.

Nadal has 17 Grand Slam titles, most recently at Roland Garros in 2018. He holds the record number of titles in the French league.

The third round match was played against Karen Khachanov of Russia, who lost 4-2, 3-6 to Djokovic.

The first official participation of Djokovic in the new season will take place in Doha next week, with the Serb entering in 2019 after a remarkable performance in the second half of last season after his small operation in February to treat an elbow injury.