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ROLEX PARIS MASTERS

November 3, 2017

Rafael Nadal

Paris, France

THE MODERATOR: Unfortunately, Rafa has to pull out of the tournament. He will explain why and then we will open up for questions.

RAFAEL NADAL: Hello. Good morning.

Yes, I have to pull out. Of course, is a very hard decision for me, especially -- well, pulling out from any event is tough but especially from here, from Paris. As I said, a lot of times it's the most important city in my career, without a doubt.

Yeah. It's a tough situation, a sad one. But I have the calm that I came here, I try my best, I did all the things I had to do to try to play this event.

I did one treatment yesterday night to try to play today, but it's impossible to go on court like yesterday. For some moments I couldn't move, no? So I had to pull out. And that's it.

I know is sorry for the fans, sorry for the tournament. I already spoke with the tournament. Guy Forget told me that just thanks for trying, and I just can say thanks for all the hospitality. They made me feel like home.

But that's what it is today. And it's sad day for me and I understand for the tournament too, but especially for me that I came here to try my best and to try to go as farther as I can.

Q. Even yesterday you felt the pain was too much. You should maybe have stopped going this morning, that you felt there was no way you could go back on court?
RAFAEL NADAL: No. Yesterday the pain during the match was too much, of course. But was not the moment to stop. I don't like to stop in the middle of the match. Even if I had to do it couple of times in my life, it's not a thing that I love to do it.

And especially when the match, thinking that I have some hours in between to do some treatment, that's what I did yesterday with the doctor. The doctor of the tournament here.

But being honest with the tournament, being honest with my opponents, and being honest with myself, the way that I am today, I don't see myself playing three more matches here.

So I am here to try to win the tournament. So if I see that I don't have that chance, it's not a good idea to keep trying.

Q. Are you worried about your physical condition, looking forward to London?
RAFAEL NADAL: I understand the question, of course, but I cannot talk about London now. I am enough sad to pull out from here. It's a tournament that I have a lot of people that I know very well around the organization, all the same people that organize Roland Garros. I feel like home here and for the relationship that I have with the French Federation, with everybody, is for me a very tough today. So is not the right day to talk about London, no?

Only thing I going to say, I'm going to do my treatment, do my best to be playing in London, but I cannot talk about that now because is a day that is enough tough for me to pull out from here.

Q. You've had knee problems. Don't have to say that. But how does this feel compared with before when you had knee problems? Are you really worried about this injury?
RAFAEL NADAL: No. Is I had a long year, a lot of matches. I pushed the body. We are at the end of the season. It's normal that these kind of things happens. The knee is always, you know, bothering a little bit, but sometimes is worse, and now is a little bit worse.

So being like this, I really cannot compete at the standards that I need to compete. And I don't want to compete being at the percentage that I am today. So I don't know. I going to come back. I going to check again with the doctors. I did after Shanghai.

I take the position to come here. Let's see. I going to do my treatment. In the past it worked well, the treatments. It's true that in -- for me it's not about London. For me it's about longer term. And longer term I going to do the treatment that I believe that going to be more safe and more important to keep playing tennis as long as possible.

So let's see what's going on. They going to come back and they going to check.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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