Top seed Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from next week's start of the ATP Miami Open tweeting that he needs to skip the event to prepare for the upcoming European clay-court campaign.
The 34-year-old Spanish who shares the all-time record of 20 men's Grand Slam singles titles with Roger Federer, has not played since being ousted from last month's Australian Open quarter-finals by Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Miami Open is a hard court tournament which Nadal has never won despite reaching the final five times between 2005 and 2017.
The Spaniard could possibly be targeting the Monte Carlo Masters in April and the Madrid Open in May as he looks to get into top shape for the French Open where he has won a record 13 times.