Andy Murray pulls out Rogers Cup 2017; Rafael Nadal to reclaim No. 1 spot with semi-final showing

Reuters

New Delhi: World no. 1 Andy Murray, on Friday, announced his withdrawal from the upcoming Rogers Cup to be held in Montreal, next week, owing to hip injury. Ergo, this turns out to be a golden opportunity for Rafael Nadal to reclaim the numero uno spot on the rankings chart.

Brit tennis star Murray became the third player from the top-6 of rankings chart to pull himself out of the Canadian hardcourt tournament. He will thus be joining 2017 Wimbledon finalist Marin Cilic and present World no. 4 Stan Wawrinka on the sidelines. This will be second second consecutive miss-out of the Canada's Masters 1000 tournament despite being part each of its event since 2006.

"I am sad to be missing the tournament in Montreal because I have many great memories from my time in Canada. I am doing everything I can to return as quickly as possible" Murray said.

Murray's departure from the campaign, however, turns out to be a golden opportunity for Spaniard Rafael Nadal. The 2017 French Open winner now has 7456 points on the chart while Murray has 7750. With just 294 points behind, Nadal has the opportunity to reclaim the No. 1 spot for the first time since June 2014, provided he reached the semi-final round of the Rogers Cup.

Earlier this week, 19-time Grand Slam winner announced his return to Canadian hardcourt after six years of gap. Thus, Nadal and Federer will stand as top seeds for the first time since Monte Carlo Open, back in April 2011.

The qualification round for the Rogers Cup is slated to begin this Saturday, and the main draw will be starting on Monday.