Bummed to read that Rafael Nadal has pulled out of the Australian Open, citing a ... stomach virus? Despite my penchant for posting shirtless photos of Mr. Bad Knees, I'm anything but a fan of his. But the game is suffering horribly in his absence -- Andy Murray won a major! -- so I can't say I'm at all happy about this, even if it will likely help Federer and Djokovic add to their trophy case.
Nadal said in a statement:
"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 practice this past week, and therefore I am sorry to announce that I will not play in Doha and the Australian Open."