Rafael Nadal’s trainer and uncle, Toni Nadal, has told reporters that the world number one is unlikely to  participate in the 2008 Davis Cup final.

Nadal was forced to cancel his trip to the season-ending Masters Cup tournament in Shanghai last week, after medical tests revealed tendinitis in his right knee.

Nadal will head to Barcelona on Monday for further testing, and appears increasingly likely to miss out on a potentially historic moment in Spanish tennis history.

“Right now his inclusion in the Davis team is difficult because the test did not go well,” Toni Nadal was reported as saying by Reuters. “There are very few options for Rafa to be there as he is feeling pain from what he is trying to do on court.”

Nadal has resigned himself to missing the Davis Cup final, and sees his injury as proof of the fact that the current season length demands too much of players’ bodies.

“The doctor tells me that the body needs to do its work and regenerate,” Nadal said. “That’s all.”