Rafael Nadal Will Not Defend US Open Title as Injury Gets the Better of the Spaniard

The US Open will be without its defending champion after Rafael Nadal pulled out of the final Grand Slam of the season due to injury.

Nadal has been struggling with a wrist injury for a while now, which kept him out of the hard court season which followed Wimbledon, and the Spaniard, who has had his fair share of injuries during his career, confirmed the news on his Facebook and Twitter accounts on Monday.

"I am very sorry to announce I won't be able to play at this year's US Open a tournament on which I've played 3 consecutive finals in my last participations," he said on his official Facebook account.

"I am sure you understand that it is a very tough moment for me since it is a tournament I love and where I have great memories from fans, the night matches, so many things.

"Not much more I can do right now, other than accept the situation and, as always in my case, work hard in order to be able to compete at the highest level once I am back."

Nadal suffered the wrist injury during practice as he looked geared to defend his title, and the left-hander, who when at his best is nearly unbeatable, will be sorely missed in New York, where he is always one of the crowd favourites.

The 28-year-old, who has won 14 Grand Slam titles in his career, did brilliantly well to clinch the US Open crown in 2013, defeating his rival Novak Djokovic in four sets.

While Nadal has not been at his best this season, the Spaniard did win his now expected French Open title, but disappointed at Wimbledon, after being knocked out by Australian youngster Nick Kyrgios in the fourth round at the All England club.