Nadal has the best record averaged over actual play time on tour in his career

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Since 2012 Rafa has hardly played a full season without being sidelined with injury.

2012

London Olympics[edit]
Nadal's second appearance at the Summer Olympics, saw him chosen by the Spanish Sports Federation as the flag-bearer of Spain. He gained automatic entry to the Men's Singles Event and was the defending champion.

But on 19 July, Nadal stated that he will be withdrawing from the Olympics citing knee injury as his issue.

Summer US hard court season[edit]
After he withdrew from the London Olympics due to knee tendinitis, Nadal missed the rest of the US Open Series, leading up to the US Open, stating that he will not return to court before the recovery.

U.S. Open[edit]
On 15 August, Nadal announced via Twitter that he was withdrawing from the 2012 US Open (tennis).[8] He had already withdrawn from the 2012 Rogers Cup and the 2012 Western & Southern Open.

Autumn season[edit]
On 3 September, Nadal announced on his homepage that he would not play for the next two months in order to rest and allow his knee to recover. He ultimately missed the remainder of the 2012 season, having received qualification for the ATP World Tour Finals in London after his second round exit from Wimbledon, before pulling out due to injury. Despite missing the final four months of the season, Nadal managed to finish ranked No. 4 in the world, his lowest year-end ranking in eight years.

Nadal stated in his announcement: "I have missed the Olympics and the US Open in the last few weeks, two of the most important tournaments of the year and that I really wanted to play. I really want to be back competing and enjoying the tennis tour, but I have many years in front of me and my knee needs some rest. I will be back when I have no pain and able to compete with guarantee[...]." [9]

2014

Summer hard court season[edit]
Canadian Open, Cincinnati Masters, and US Open[edit]
Nadal was the defending champion of all three tournaments, but had to withdraw from each because he was unable to recover from a right wrist injury that he suffered while practicing on July 29.

Asian Swing[edit]
China Open[edit]
Nadal returned to action from his wrist injury after three months away from the tour with a dominant two set victory over Richard Gasquet. He won the next round as well, but rust and lack of training became apparent as he fell to Martin Klizan in the quarters.

Shanghai Masters[edit]
Before his opening match, Nadal announced that he had been receiving aggressive medical treatment for appendicitis in hopes of avoiding surgery until the end of the tennis season. The effects of this ailment, though, could be seen in his movement and play in his opening match as Feliciano Lopez handed him a straight set defeat.

Indoor hard court season and World Tour Finals[edit]
Swiss indoors[edit]
Nadal seemed to be back to his winning ways as he easily dispatched his first two opponents. In the quarter-finals, though, he ran into red hot 17-year-old Borna Ćorić and was beaten in straight sets.

Paris Masters and ATP World Tour Finals[edit]
After his defeat in Basel, Nadal announced that he was not in a condition to be able to compete at the level necessary to win and opted out of both the Paris Masters and the ATP World Tour Finals to have surgery for his appendicitis. It was the third time that Nadal was forced to withdrew from the ATP World Tour Finals after he had qualified.

 

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2016

French Open[edit]

Wikinews has related news: Nadal withdraws from French Open 2016, suffers from wrist injury

Nadal gained a top 4 seeding for his French Open campaign after Federer withdrew with a back injury which guaranteed he won't be meeting Djokovic until the semifinals.[citation needed] Nadal defeated Sam Groth in the first round 6-1 6-1 6-1. In the second round, Nadal defeated Facundo Bagnis. However, Nadal was forced to withdraw a day before his 3rd round match due to a wrist injury.

US Open Series[edit]
Rio Olympics[edit]
Having not played since May 28, Nadal took part in his first competitive match in the Rio Olympic games. Nadal Faced Argentina's Federico Delbonis. Nadal was in no mood to mess around as he put in an excellent performance, winning 6–2 6–1. In the next round, he faced Andreas Seppi, but beat him in straight sets. Nadal faced Gilles Simon from France, and despite hitting 28 unforced errors in the first set, Nadal came through 7-6 6-3. Nadal then faced home favourite and fellow lefty Thomaz Bellucci. Nadal came through in 3 tough sets. He then faced a resurgent Juan Martín del Potro, the pair last met three years ago. Despite Nadal winning the first set, del Potro fought back to claim victory in an epic olympic semi-final. After the loss to del Potro, Rafa faced Kei Nishikori in the bronze medal match. A visibly exhausted Nadal lost the first set 6–2. He was then 5–2 down in the second, but Nishikori nerves were visible, Nadal levelling 7–6. But in the end, Nishikori was too good, prevailing 6–3 in the third.

2017

ATP World Tour Finals[edit]
Nadal' s final event of the year was at the ATP World Tour Finals. His first round robin match was against David Goffin. Nadal struggled with his knee injury, and ended up losing the match in three tight sets. Following the loss, he withdrew from the tournament, ending his 2017 season.

2018

Nadal was forced to retire mid match due to a right knee injury.[16] On 19 September, Nadal withdrew from the Asian tournaments at Beijing and Shanghai to fully recover from the injury.[17]

2019
European indoor hard court season[edit]
Paris Masters[edit]
Nadal was scheduled to return from knee injury hiatus in the Paris Masters, but withdrew from an abdominal injury suffered during a training session. In that process, he also lost his world No. 1 ranking to Novak Djokovic.[18]

ATP Tour Finals[edit]
On November 5, Nadal announced his withdrawal from the ATP Finals due to the abdominal injury, and also citing an ankle injury on which he decided to undergo surgery.[19] This marked the end of his 2018 season, having not played since retiring in the semifinals of the US Open.

Paris Masters[edit]
Having not played since the US Open as he missed the Asian swing due to his wedding, Nadal will next play the Paris Masters. He defeated Adrian Mannarino, Stan Wawrinka, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets to reach the Semi-Finals. However, due to an abdominal injury, Nadal was forced to withdraw from his match against Denis Shapovalov.