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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rafael Nadal of Spain leaps as he plays a return to Nick Kyrgios of Australia plays during their men's singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Tuesday, July 1, 2014. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Rafael Nadal is withdrawing from hard-court tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati because of a right wrist injury, putting his status in doubt for a title defense at the U.S. Open.
Nadal plays left-handed, but he uses a two-handed backhand.
His manager announced the withdrawals Wednesday.
The Toronto tournament begins Monday; the Cincinnati tournament starts Aug. 11. Those two events would have represented Nadal’s hard-court preparation for the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 25.
The Spaniard, currently No. 2 in the ATP rankings, won his second championship at Flushing Meadows in 2013. That is part of his collection of 14 Grand Slam titles, tied with Pete Sampras for second in the history of men’s tennis, trailing only Roger Federer’s record of 17.
