Rafael Nadal to resume injury recovery straight after wedding amid Novak Djokovic battle

The 19-time Grand Slam winner pulled out of the Shanghai Masters with a hand injury picked up during the Laver Cup last month.

He explained during the tournament: “I felt it on the first day here, and it has been increasing.

“I had an injection because I wanted to be ready to play, and this morning it was worse, so I didn’t think there was any point doing it again because it wasn’t going to be 100 percent.”

But Nadal, who won the US Open in September, is now close to being fully recovered.

Ubi Tennis report that Nadal will resume his rehabilitation programme immediately as opposed to prolonging his celebrations, with the tennis icon presumably then holidaying with his wife once the season finishes.

Speaking about his issue recently, he said: “The year has been very good, despite a complicated start on a physical level.

“Since Barcelona, I have been able to play all the tournaments I have wanted to complete the calendar that I had in mind.

“The US Open final was tough and the Laver Cup was beautiful. I had and I have a small problem in my hand.

“I am recovering and hopefully I can complete the planned schedule and finish the year the way I would like after a season that has been good.”

Nadal is looking to end the year as the world No 1 for the fifth time in his career, which would see him draw level with rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Currently, Djokovic leads Nadal by 320 points – but he defends 600 points in Paris after finishing as the runner-up last year to Karen Khachanov and 1,000 at the ATP Finals in London in November, having lost to Alexander Zverev in the 2018 final.

Nadal meanwhile has no points to defend after ending his season early due to injury 12 months ago.

That means the Spaniard is arguably in a stronger position, although finishing the year atop the ATP Rankings depends on whether he can return to his best after injury.

Having won the Japan Open earlier this month, Djokovic crashed out to the Shanghai Open at the quarter-final stage to Stefanos Tsitsipas.