Rafael Nadal will miss US Open with knee injury

Rafael Nadal will miss the upcoming U.S. Open due to ongoing knee issues, it was announced Wednesday.

The 2010 champion has not played a match since his stunning second-round loss at Wimbledon to Lukas Rosol. He had previously withdrawn from the London Olympics and U.S. hard court season.

"I am very sad to announce that I am not ready to play the US Open in NY," Nadal tweeted. "Thanks to my fans for their support and especially, the New Yorkers."

The Spaniard has won 11 Grand Slams in his career. He's played in 25 of the last 26 Grand Slam events, winning 10 and playing in five other finals. He has never missed the U.S. Open.

It's a huge blow to the year's final major. Nadal and Novak Djokovic played epic finals at both last year's U.S. Open and this year's Australian. And this summer's wins by Roger Federer and Andy Murray at Wimbledon and the Olympics, respectively, were setting up for a riveting fortnight in Queens.

Nadal's aggressive style of play has led to issues with his knees before. He took a break to rehab in 2009 after feeling pain during his loss to Robin Soderling at the French Open, but later admitted that strife in his parent's marriage played a large role in his decision to skip Wimbledon that year.

Now, three years later, after another upset loss, Nadal is out again. He didn't appear to show any lingering issues during the loss to Rosol. Indeed, he was as good as ever during his usual run through the clay court season.

Nadal has been a vocal critic of the ATP's rigorous calendar.