Tennis-Nadal ends season to recover from left wrist injury

By Martyn Herman

Oct 20 ( Reuters) - Former world number one Rafael Nadal ended his 2016 early on Thursday in a bid to fully recover from the left wrist injury that has plagued him this year.

In a statement the Spanish 14-times gram slam champion said he would play no more tournaments and would instead begin "preparing intensively" for the 2017 season.

The 30-year-old left hander was forced to pull out of the French Open before his third round match and also missed Wimbledon because of the injury although he returned to compete at the Rio Olympics where he won a doubles gold medal with Marc Lopez.

"It is no secret that I arrived to the Olympic Games short of preparation and not fully recovered, but the goal was to compete and win a medal for Spain," Nadal said.

"This forced recovery has caused me pain since then and now I am forced to stop and start preparing the 2017 season."

Nadal, currently ranked sixth in the world, was expected to qualify for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals. (Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)