Rafael Nadal of Spain hits a return during his men's singles tennis match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, in London July 1, 2014.
Rafael Nadal of Spain hits a return during his men's singles tennis match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, in London July 1, 2014. REUTERS

It is official: Rafael Nadal will miss the 2014 US Open-- the final tennis Grand Slam of the year-- which means that the Spaniard won’t be able to defend the Majors title he won in 2013 and at the same time is now in real danger to lose the no. 2 spot in the world rankings to rival Roger Federer.

Nadal took to Facebook to share the bad news—and disappointment—with his fans:

“I am very sorry to announce I won’t be able to play at this year’s US Open a tournament on which I’ve played 3 consecutive finals in my last participations. I am sure you understand that it is a very tough moment for me since it is a tournament I love and where I have great memories from fans, the night matches, so many things…” Nadal shared on his social media account.

The development is a big letdown for Nadal and his fans, who were expecting some good news after consistent updates from team doctors that the Spaniard was on track to play in Flushing Meadows, Queen in New York.

The 28-year-old Nadal suffered the injury on his right wrist in a practice session on July 30 causing him to miss a couple of tournaments—the Rogers Cup in Toronto and the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati—the following two weeks.

Worse, Nadal was the defending champion in both tourneys, which meant he was bound to lose huge points in the ATP rankings.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia still holds the no. 1 spot in the world rankings as of Aug. 18, 2014 with 12,700 points. He’s way ahead of Rafael Nadal (10,670 points) and Roger Federer (7,490 points) who ranks second and third, respectively. Another Swiss in Stanislas Wawrinka is in fourth place (5,985) and Spaniard David Ferrer completes the top five with 4,765 points.

The battle between Nadal and Federer for that second spot will be an interesting side story entering the 2014 US Open and ending the ATP season.

Now that Nadal is officially out of the Grand Slam in New York, Federer has a legit chance of passing him in the rankings. Nadal will lose another 2,000 ATP points for missing the 2014 US Open paving the way for Federer to land at the top two if the Swiss Maestro can win the title of the Grand Slam tournament.

“Not much more I can do right now, other than accept the situation and, as always in my case, work hard in order to be able to compete at the highest level once I am back,” Nadal added in the Facebook post.

No thanks to a right wrist injury, which hasn’t fully healed yet, Rafael Nadal won’t be able to defend his US Open title. Even worse for the Spaniard, he might lose out on the rankings war against bitter rival Roger Federer as well.