Rafael Nadal has been forced to withdraw from his clash with Australian Alex de Minaur tonight after the world No.2 was unable to overcome a lower back injury.<\/p>\n
Nadal was scheduled to take on de Minaur as part of Spain's opening ATP Cup tie.<\/p>\n
Roberto Bautista-Agut will now face de Minaur in the second singles tie, with Pablo Carreno-Busta facing to meet John Millman in the first singles tie.<\/p>\n
According to Nadal, he is suffering from a "stiff low back" and as a result will not take to the court, with the hope he will be right to play on Thursday.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/twitter.com\/RafaelNadal\/status\/1356480493458386944<\/a><\/p>\n "Hi all, we have decided with Team Spain and my team, to not play today the first match of the ATP Cup here in Melbourne since I have a stiff low back," he tweeted.<\/p>\n "Hopefully I'll be better for Thursday. We have a strong team, all the best to (Pablo Carreno-Busta), (Roberto Bautista-Agut) and (Marcel Granollers)."<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"