RAFAEL NADAL HAS pulled out of the Australian Open due to the stomach virus that sidelined him at the Mubadala Tennis Championships.

In a statement released on Friday, Nadal announced he was withdrawing from both the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, set to start on December 30, and the Australian Open, which will begin on January 14, but was keen to stress the decision has nothing to do with his long-term knee problem.

The world number four tore the patella tendon in his left knee during his second-round loss to Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon in June and has not played since.

Nadal has said his recovery from that knee injury is on schedule, but a stomach virus has disrupted his preparation to the extent he will not be able to compete in Melbourne.

“My knee is much better and the rehabilitation process has gone well as predicted by the doctors but this virus didn’t allow me to practise this past week,” Nadal said in a statement.

“Therefore I am sorry to announce that I will not play in Doha (at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open) and the Australian Open, as we had initially scheduled.

“As my team and doctors say, the safest thing to do is to do things well and this virus has delayed my plans of playing these weeks.”

Nadal got back on the court for training in late November and had been expected to play his first match this week since the injury.

But the 26-year-old Spaniard was replaced at the Mubadala Tennis Championships by Nicolas Almagro, after Nadal succumbed to the stomach virus.

Nadal now expects to make his return to action at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, Mexico, which starts on February 25.

“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 rather not accelerate the comeback,” Nadal said.

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