Rafael Nadal was a late withdrawal from the ATP 500 Acapulco after suffering an injury setback.
The World No 2 has not featured since injury ended his Australian Open bid at the quarter-final stage against Marin Cilic.
He was due to make his comeback against fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez on Tuesday night, live on Sky Sports Action, but was forced to pull out due to a recurrence of his hip injury.
“My goal and hope was to play in this tournament. Unfortunately, in my last training session yesterday, I felt a sharp pain in my leg again,” the 31-year-old Spanish star said.
Nadal, champion here in 2005 and 2013, added: “I took all the appropriate steps to arrive at the tournament in form. I went to Cozumel first, to adapt [to the climate].
“But yesterday, in my last training session before the tournament, during one movement I felt a sharp pain again in the same area where I had the problem in Australia.”
Nadal said doctors in Mexico warned him not to play for fear of aggravating the injury.
“I still don’t know what it is, because we don’t know. It seems it’s not as bad as what I had at the Australian Open,” he said. “Now, my main goal is to find out the extent of the injury.
“Maybe it is a minor situation, but the reality is that there is liquid and until it goes down a bit and the relevant tests are done, it will not be possible to diagnose.”
