ATP Cup: Nadal withdraws from match against Alex de Minaur and Australia

MELBOURNE: Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal on Tuesday announced that he would not be participating in the ATP Cup match against Alex de Minaur and Australia.

The Spaniard has withdrawn from the clash citing a "stiff lower back".

"Hi all, we have decided with #TeamSpain and my team, to not play today the first match of the @ATPCup here in #Melbourne since I have a stiff low back. Hopefully, I'll be better for Thursday. We have a strong team, all the to @pablocarreno91 @BautistaAgut & @M_Granollers, #vamos," tweeted Nadal.

Nadal was all set to face de Minaur for the third straight summer. Nadal had earlier defeated him in 2019 Australian Open and 2020 ATP Cup, reported Fox Sports.

Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut will now clash against de Minaur, while Australia's John Millman will square off against Pablo Carreno Busta on Tuesday.

The winner of the Australia and Spain tie will be favoured to advance into the ATP Cup semi-finals. For progressing to the semis, the winner of this clash also needs to defeat Greece later this week.

The ATP Cup is a men's tennis tournament between competing nations, which premiered in January 2020. The tournament is played in Australia over ten days in the lead up to the Australian Open and features teams from 24 countries.

The inaugural tournament took place in 2020 and it was played in Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth. (ANI)