Australian No.1 Alex de Minaur has withdrawn from this week’s Adelaide International, citing an abdominal injury, just seven days out from the Australian Open.
The 20 year-old had a big workload over the last week and a half, playing five matches at the ATP Cup, including a doubles match.
He pushed world No.1 Rafael Nadal to three sets in Australia’s semi-final loss to Spain on Saturday night in Sydney.
The rising star told reporters in Adelaide he was upset to be pulling out of the tournament but didn’t indicate whether the injury was likely to substantially impact his Australian Open preparations.
“Obviously I’m not in the happiest mood,” he said.
“But it’s something that happens. I aggravated a bit of an ab injury.
“I’ve just got to do whatever I can to make sure my body recovers.
“My sole focus is making sure I recover for my next one (Australian Open).”
De Minaur was the top seed at the Adelaide tournament, a new ATP/WTA event on the calendar for 2020.
It comes as another blow for the organisers after world No.2 Novak Djokovic withdrew at the weekend.
Despite his strong showing at the ATP Cup, with two singles wins to go with his close run match with Nadal, de Minaur will also suffer a rankings drop before the Australian Open.
He’s now No.21 in the world, down from No.18 because he didn’t defend all the points accrued from his Sydney International win in 2019.
Now being seeded 20th with the withdrawal of Kei Nishikori, he could face a top-10 rival as early as round three at Melbourne Park.