Rafael Nadal's body ultimately may prevent him from achieving tennis immortality.
Nadal has withdrawn from the U.S. Open that starts on Monday because of a right wrist injury and will be unable to defend his 2013 title.
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The Spaniard has 14 career Grand Slam titles, just three behind all-time leader Roger Federer, who is also still on the tour.
It has been generally accepted that the 28-year-old Nadal is a better player than Federer, who just turned 33.
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But injuries have plagued Nadal ever since he vaulted to No. 1 in 2008, tennis.com reports. The 2014 U.S. Open will be the fourth Grand Slam he has missed due to injury since 2009 - and the second U.S. Open. He missed the 2009 Wimbledon, the 2012 U.S. Open and the 2013 Australian Open as well.
It hasn't been just one injury that has plagued Nadal, which is encouraging. He has suffered tendinits in his knees in 2009 and then again in 2012. A stomach virus knocked him out of the 2013 Australian Open.
Tennis analysts surmised that Nadal's relentless attack mode is too hard on his body, causing it to break down.
This season, Nadal suffered a back injury in the final of the Australian Open that cost him a chance to beat Stanislas Wawrinka in the finals.
He bounced back with a victory over Novak Djokovic in the French Open for his ninth victory at Roland Garros.
But after suffering a surprising fourth-round defeat at the hands of 19-year-old Nick Kyrgios, Nadal basically disappeared, and it was later revealed that he was suffering from a strained right wrist that eventually cost him the U.S. Open bid.
At the same time, Federer has rebounded from his own injury-plagued 2013 to win three tournaments in 2014 and finish as a runner-up to Djokovic at Wimbledon. Federer is considered the favorite heading into the U.S. Open as Djokovic also has struggled since his Wimbledon victory, in which he married longtime girlfriend Jelena Ristic.
Federer's wife Mirka gave birth to a second set of twins just before the French Open, and their births seem to have motivated him to playing his best tennis.
Nadal undoubtedly will go down as the greatest clay-court player in history. But he may not get much more of a chance to prove himself to be the greatest player in history.
Unless Nadal learns how to pace himself and his body around the slams, his bid to become the best of all time could be cut short prematurely.
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