Nadal to miss Asian tournaments due to knee injury

World number one Rafael Nadal has announced his withdrawal from upcoming tournaments in Beijing and Shanghai due to the right knee injury that forced him to retire from the US Open earlier this month.

Nadal had to pull out during his semi-final against Juan Martin del Potro in New York and also missed Spain's Davis Cup defeat by France last weekend.

The 32-year-old said he visited doctors in Barcelona on Monday and has subsequently made the decision to play neither the ATP 500 event in Beijing nor the Masters 1000 in Shanghai.

"While the annoyances on my knee are nothing new, we have decided together with my medical and technical team not to participate in the Asian tour to recover the knee the way we have always done," Nadal said on Wednesday.

"I'm sorry I can't be with all the fans in China and with the organisers of the Beijing and Shanghai tournaments that have always had a great relationship with me and my team."