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Patna : World No 1 in ATP rankings and top seed Rafael Nadal, 32, Spain, pulled out from the Paris Masters 1,000 points tennis tournament on October 31, 2018, due to abdominal injury ahead of his second round match against compatriot and World No 27 Vernando Verdasco, 34, paving way for World No 2 Novak Djokovic, 31, Serbia, to be officially declared World No 1 on November 5, 2018.
Nadal was leading Djokovic by just 215 points and he had to defend 180 points at Paris Masters he earned in 2017 at the event. Djokovic has no point to defend at the event as he did not play here in 2017 and he has already entered Round of 16 in 2018. Nadal has not played any ATP tournament since retiring in the semi-finals of US Open 2018 due to injury.