Rafa out of Paris!!!!

Breaking news tonight announced the withdrawl of Rafa for "medical reasons".

When you first hear it, its shocking, and your tummy flips over and you dread what is to come. However, it seems that Rafa has tendonitis in his left shoulder as he's been overdoing it in practice - probably on that new serve - coupled of course with the inevitable fatigue that hits him at this time of the year anyway, and considering the stellar season he's had, why wouldn't his body be feeling tiredness?

Our lovely Rafan has been doing some Rafateer research on what is out there at the moment, and has found this report ...

"PARIS (AP)—Top-ranked Rafael Nadal withdrew from the Paris Masters on Friday because of a shoulder injury that will keep him sidelined for at least a week.

Nadal said in an e-mail sent out by his management team that he was suffering from “a small case of tendinitis in my left shoulder which came about through forcing my serve too much during training this week.”

“I am very sorry not to be able to play the Paris-Bercy tournament this year,” Nadal said.

The Spaniard said the injury wasn’t serious, but he had been advised by doctors that he needed six or seven days rest with intensive rehabilitation treatment. Nadal is scheduled to play in the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London from Nov. 21-28.

The ATP tour said Nadal would still make an appearance at the Paris tournament and would discuss his injury further at a news conference Sunday or Monday.

“It’s always a blow for a tournament to lose Nadal,” event director Jean-Francois Caujolle said. “We still have nine of the 10 best players in the world and I don’t think the tournament has been hampered by his withdrawal, even though it would have been better to have him.”

Nadal recently said he was feeling some fatigue from a successful season in which he won the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Nadal has not played since a third-round defeat to Jurgen Melzer at the Shanghai Masters on Oct 14."

On reading this, it doesn't appear too serious and it seems there's still every chance we'll see him in London. However on either Sunday or Monday, Rafa will be giving a press conference, so we'll hear all about it then.

Stay posted ...

*UPDATED ... Reuters have released this with a comment from Rafa ...

"Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from next week's Paris Masters due to a minor case of tendinitis in his left shoulder, the world number one said on Friday.

The Spaniard, who has had serious problems with tendinitis in his knees over the past few years, said he sustained the injury practicing his serve at home in Mallorca this week and needed to rest for six to seven days.

"It is nothing to be worried about but the doctor told me I have to spend those days doing intensive treatment and functional rehabilitation with physiotherapy," the 24-year-old said in a statement.

"I'm very sorry for the tournament organizers, who've always treated me in a very special way, and especially sorry for all my fans in France and in Paris that I won't be able to be with them in one of my favorite cities in the world," he added.

Nadal, the French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion, reached the semi-finals of the Paris event last year.

However, he was booed when he pulled out injured during his quarter-final match in 2008.

Nadal said he would be in Paris on Monday to work with the media and meet some of his fans. He is due to play in the season-ending World Tour finals in London later this month."