Rafael Nadal pulls out of Asian leg of ATP Tour

Spanish tennis ace Rafael Nadal confirmed on Wednesday that he will miss the Asian leg of the ATP Tour, including the forthcoming tournaments in Beijing and Shanghai to "recover" from a knee injury.

Nadal, who this season has won the Monte-Carlo, Italian, French and Canadian Open tournaments, was forced to retire from the semifinals of the US Open recently with a knee injury.

On his personal 'Twitter' feed, he explained that "last Monday, I was in Barcelona looking at the situation with my knee with the doctors. We have decided with my medical and technical team to not participate in the Asian tour to allow the knee to recover the way we have always done."

The current world Number 1 said he "lamented" not being able to perform in front of his Chinese fans.