Rafael Nadal: Real reason why Spaniard is not playing at Miami Open

Nadal pulled out of last week’s Indian Wells event after withdrawing from the Acapulco Open in Mexico with a hip problem.

It is the same injury that forced Nadal to retire hurt in his Australian Open quarter-final against Marin Cilic in January.

"I won't be able to play in Miami as I need to recover,” Nadal recently said.

"It was very painful to retire from Acapulco and it's very hard as well to not play in the USA.

"Unfortunately, the injury I suffered in Acapulco before starting the tournament is in the same area as the one suffered in Melbourne."

Despite not featuring this week, Nadal could overtake Roger Federer as World No 1.

Federer is 290 points ahead of world No 2 Rafael Nadal heading into Miami.

Nadal's absence means he will lose 600 ATP points, giving Federer an 890-point advantage at the top.

However, as defending champion, the Swiss legend can lose up to 1000 ATP points, should he crash out in the early stages.

It means if Federer gets knocked out in the opening four rounds at Miami, Nadal will leapfrog his counterpart into first place.

Rafael Nadal will now be hoping that he regains his fitness in time for the clay court season, which begins in April.

The Monte Carlo Masters tend to be the first time Nadal steps onto clay in a tournament each season with this year’s tournament beginning on April 14.

The clay is where Nadal is at his formidable best, having won the French Open ten times.

This year’s French Open begins on May 27 with the men’s singles final on June 10.

Nadal has also committed to playing Queen’s, the precursor to Wimbledon, with that competition beginning just over a week after the French Open is finished.

Wimbledon begins on July 2 with Nadal aiming to pass the fourth round for the first time since reaching the final in 2011.