Rafael Nadal will miss the Australian Open and instead return to Spain for treatment on a hip injury he sustained at the Brisbane International.
Nadal, 37, made his long-awaited return after almost a year out with injury this week, winning his first two matches in Brisbane in straight sets.
But he was injured in his quarter-final loss to Jordan Thompson on Friday.
Nadal said a scan had shown a micro tear on a muscle but not in the same area as his previous long-term injury.
The Spaniard, who had not played a singles match for 349 days prior to his opening win over Dominic Thiem, said the result was “good news” but he was “not ready to compete at the maximum level”.
He said in May, after being forced to miss the French Open for the first time in 19 years, that 2024 would “probably” be the final year of his career, meaning he may have already played his last Australian Open, a tournament he has won twice.
But while his latest injury felt in a similar place to that which led to “one of the toughest years” of his illustrious career, crucially it appears it is not as significant as he initially feared.
“I have worked very hard during the year for this comeback and as I always mentioned my goal is to be at my best level in three months,” 22-time Grand Slam champion Nadal said on social media.
“Within the sad news for me for not being able to play in front of the amazing Melbourne crowds, this is not very bad news and we all remain positive with the evolution for the season.
“I really wanted to play in Australia and I have had the chance to play a few matches that made me very happy and positive.
“Thanks all for the support and see you soon!”
The Australian Open starts in Melbourne on 14 January.
Nadal will now focus on returning to fitness in time for the French Open, which begins on 20 May and where he is a record 14-time champion.
His most recent appearance at a Grand Slam was the 2023 Australian Open, when he struggled with injury in a second-round loss to Mackenzie McDonald.
That was his final appearance on court before having an operation on his left hip in June and the former world number one has since slipped to 672nd in the rankings.
With Nadal’s withdrawal, this will be the first Australian Open since 1999 without either Nadal or Roger Federer, who retired in 2022, featuring in the men’s singles main draw.
Analysis: Time will tell for Nadal
Russell Fuller, BBC tennis correspondent
Nadal expects – on the balance of probability – that this will be his final year, so he will be flying home with some sadness that he may never again get the chance to walk out on to the Rod Laver Arena.
But the positive words outweigh the negative ones in his post on social media.
That reflects the minor nature of the injury and the fact he was able to get three matches, and two wins, under his belt in Brisbane – which is not a bad return for an unseeded player vulnerable to drawing a top-10 opponent in any first round.
Time will tell whether Nadal can stay free of injury for long enough to build the match count essential to success later in the year.
The 37-year-old knows the end of his career could come at any moment – and so just as he was not getting too light-headed about the way he played last week, he is not going to be too morose about the verdict of this MRI scan.
