Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts during his men's singles tennis match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, in London July 1, 2014.
Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts during his men's singles tennis match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, in London July 1, 2014. REUTERS

Rafael Nadal is already losing precious ATP points by missing the past couple of tournaments. Nadal is set to lose more if he loses the 2014 US Open scheduled from August 25 to September 8 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York.

Nadal suffered a wrist injury in practice on July 30 and promptly pulled out of the competitions at the 2014 Rogers Cup in Montreal, Toronto and then the 2014 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, USA.

After a series of regular tests and check-ups with his medical team, Rafael Nadal has yet to decide if he’s ready for the final Grand Slam tournament of the season. The first update came days after the injury and doctors had said that Nadal is on track for a US Open return as originally planned.

By Thursday (August 14), when they were supposed to make their final update on Nadal’s status for the 2014 US Open, no official word came out from the medical team except that they will have to postpone making the decision if Nadal will play in New York or not. Reports have stated that Nadal will make his final decision a week before the Grand Slam in New York begins.

The worst-case scenario is also shaping up for the Nadal; rival Roger Federer has been in-form of late with a final appearance in Toronto and then a tournament title in Cincinnati to gain serious ground on Nadal.

Here are the official ATP rankings from the tour’s official website after the Rogers Cup and before the Cincinnati Masters (As of August 11, 2014):

ATP Rankings - Top 10
1. Novak Djokovic (Serbia) – 12,860 points
2. Rafael Nadal (Spain) – 11,670 points
3. Roger Federer (Switzerland) - 6,670 points
4. Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) – 5,850 points
5. Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) – 4,410 points
6. David Ferrer (Spain) – 4,255 points
7. Milos Raonic (Canada) – 3,955 points
8. Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) – 3,620 points
9. Andy Murray (Great Britain) – 3,150 points
10. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) – 2,910 points

Re-computing the points post the Cincy event, Nadal will drop 1000 points or to just 10,670 points while the Swiss Maestro will jump to 7,490 points.

Should Rafael Nadal fail to recover from his wrist injury in time for the 2014 US Open, he is bound to lose a huge 2,000 points being the defending champion this year. For his part, Roger Federer needs to win the Grand Slam title (to gain 2,000 points) if he wants to steal the No. 2 spot from his rival.