Nadal withdraws from Australian Open

• Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Jan. 14-27 Australian Open
• The 11-time major champion says his preparation has been hampered by a virus
• "My knee is coming along OK, but a stomach virus has left me unable to get ready"

The wait for Rafael Nadal's return will have to continue.

Nadal on Friday announced that he has withdrawn from the Australian Open.

Nadal has been sidelined with tendinitis in his left knee since a second-round loss to then 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon in June. The latest setback is a stomach virus, which has delayed Nadal's preparations.

The season's first major begins Jan. 14 in Melbourne.

"I am sorry and very sad to announce that I will not play in the Australian Open," the 2009 Australian Open champion said. "My knee is coming along OK, but a stomach virus has left me unable to get ready in time to tackle the rigors of a Grand Slam.

"Because of the virus, I have been unable to get any match practice and simply would not be doing myself or my friends in Australia justice if I went down there so unprepared. You need your body to be at its best for the Australian Open," Nadal said.

"It was a difficult decision and I am extremely disappointed to be missing such a great event. I love coming to Melbourne and playing on Rod Laver Arena before the Australian crowds. It brings out the best in me. It hurts to have to wait another 12 months before I get another chance. In the meantime, the focus is now on desperately trying to get back on the tour."

Nadal was originally due to play his first matches since the surgery in Abu Dhabi followed by an event in Doha.

Nadal's coach and uncle, Toni Nadal, explained that Nadal had opted against making his return at Melbourne since he wouldn't be physically fit to take on its five-set format.

"We consider not appropriate to play the Australian Open since we will not have enough preparation for a greater competition which is a Grand Slam tournament," Toni Nadal said in the statement. "It is simply not conceivable that his first event is a best of five sets event, he wouldn't be ready for that."

Nadal's withdrawals from his tuneup events played a large part in his decision to pull out of the Australian Open.

"It is completely understandable and we really feel disappointed for him," Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley said. "But without any match practice and without sufficient lead up time on the practice court, it makes it virtually impossible for him to get his body ready.

"We just hope he gets better quickly and we see him back on the tour as soon as possible. Tennis fans across the world have been missing him. Our Australian Open staff will very much miss him and his team as he is not only a great player, but also a great guy with good people around him,"explained Tiley who has been in regular contact with the Nadal camp in recent weeks.

"We wish Rafa all the best. I am confident we will see him back on the tour soon and back in Australia for 2014, no doubt as one of the contenders for the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup."

The former No. 1 said that he hopes to make his long-awaited reappearance at Acapulco starting Feb. 27. However, he did not rule out playing at an earlier tournament if his recovery went well enough.

"I always said that my return to competition will be when I am in the right conditions to play and after all this time away from the courts I'd rather not accelerate the comeback and prefer to do things well," Nadal said.

He also had to pull out of the U.S. Open and Spain's Davis Cup final against the Czech Republic, and his teammates lost without him.

Nadal, who is currently ranked fourth, won the Australian Open in 2009. Last year, he lost to top-ranked Novak Djokovic in an epic final that lasted five hours and 53 minutes, the longest ever match at the event and the longest men's Grand Slam final on record.