World No 5 Nadal had been scheduled to team up with Argentina’s David Nalbandian in a second-round encounter against Argentine Horacio Zeballos and Oliver Marach of Austria. Former World No 1 Nadal only returned to the tour in Chile last week, where he lost in the final, after a seven-month injury absence, AFP reported.

“Nadal thought it was preferable to stay in his hotel and prepare for his singles match tomorrow,” a Brazil Open spokesman said.

“He discussed the issue with Nalbandian and the two agreed not to play the doubles. It was a joint decision,” he added.

Nalbandian said the conditions were “very difficult.”

“The court is not in the best condition and the ball is very difficult to control,” he added.

Nadal had complained at a press conference on Tuesday, Feb 12 about having to play so many hard court events.

While conceding that reducing the number of events on hard surface was not possible at this time, Nadal added: “I think that the ATP has to work to think of how to lengthen tennis players’ careers.”