FILE - This Sept. 13, 2010 file photo shows Rafael Nadal, of Spain, holding the championship trophy after defeating Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, to win the men's championship match at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York. The U.S. Open says that Nadal has withdrawn from the last Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year because of injury. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
August 15, 2012 - 12:22 PM
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - The U.S. Open says that Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the last Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year because of injury.
Citing left knee tendinitis, the third-ranked Nadal hasn't played a match since June 28, when he was upset in the second round of Wimbledon by 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol.
Nadal also pulled out of the London Olympics and a hard-court tuneup tournament in Cincinnati.
The Spaniard won the 2010 U.S. Open to complete a career Grand Slam and was the runner-up to Novak Djokovic last year.
U.S. Open tournament director David Brewer says in a statement Tuesday: "Rafa has informed us that he will not be ready to compete at the U.S. Open this year."
Play begins at Flushing Meadows on Aug. 27.
News from © The Associated Press, 2012