Andy Murray reveals he knew about Rafael Nadal"s wrist injury while the duo were practising ahead of the French Open

Rafael Nadal - Fallen Emperor ᴴᴰ

• Rafael Nadal could have permanently damaged wrist by continuing to play
• Andy Murray said that it was a shame for the fans that Nadal pulled out
• Nadal had only lost nine games in the first two roundsof the French Open
• John McEnroe added that the fourth seed pulling out was disappointing

ByMartyn Herman, Reuters

Published: 06:54 EST, 28 May 2016 | Updated: 06:54 EST, 28 May 2016

Andy Murray knew nine-times French Open champion Rafael Nadal was struggling with a wrist injury when he practised with the Spaniard during the build-up to Roland Garros.

Fourth seed Nadal, who will be 30 next week, stunned the tournament on Friday when he announced he was pulling out despite dropping only nine games in his first two rounds.

He said the problem was with a tendon in his left wrist and that scans had shown he was in danger of a serious injury if he did not stop playing.

Fourth seed Rafael Nadal stunned the tournament when he pulled out of the French Open due to a wrist injury

Andy Murray revealed that he knew about Nadal"s injury in the build-up to the tournament while the duo trained

NADAL"S FRENCH OPEN RECORD

2005 - win

2006 - win

2007 - win

2008 - win

2009 - fourth round

2010 - win

2011 - win

2012 - win

2013 - win

2014 - win

2015 - quarter-final

2016 - third round

"I practised a bit with him last week and I knew there were some issues with the wrist," world number two Murray, who is through to the last 16 in Paris told Eurosport.

"He"s won this nine times and was playing really well so for him to withdraw from the tournament, it would have to be a pretty serious injury. It"s a great shame for Rafa and the fans and a shame for the tournament."

Nadal"s withdrawal was a huge blow to the tournament as he had been expected to face world number one Novak Djokovic in the semi-final, having lost to the Serb in the quarters last year.

Seven-times grand slam champion John McEnroe called Nadal"s latest injury "extremely disappointing".

"We"ve seen him play for many years and it"s always been a concern about how his knees would hold up," the American told Eurosport.

"After last year, we all hoped he would be able to get his health and fitness back and get his game together and it looked like that was happening.

Nadal suffered from problems in the tendons in his wrist and could have risked permanent damage by playing

"We all know how much he wanted (title) number 10 and we were looking forward to seeing play Novak in the semis."

Former French Open champion Mats Wilander said the decision had been a no-brainer for Nadal.

"A slight miss-hit and that"s going to hurt like crazy," the Swede said.

"He"s turning 30 in a few days and still has two or three years left so this was an obvious decision."

The 29-year-old had only dropped nine games in the first two rounds of the competition ahead of pulling out

Share or comment on this article

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-3613998/Andy-Murray-reveals-knew-Rafael-Nadal-s-wrist-injury-duo-practising-ahead-French-Open.html