Last updated on .From the section Tennis

What the virtual Madrid Open court looks like

Rafael Nadal has suffered more than a fair share of injuries during his tennis career and his Davis Cup team-mate Feliciano Lopez tried to add a new one to the list on Monday.

When the Spanish great asked to postpone a virtual tennis charity match against a gamer, Madrid Open Virtual Pro tournament director Lopez said it was because of a "back issue".

But with Nadal fans growing anxious and media organisations taking the director at his word, Lopez tweeted: "Guys, I was joking, of course... I said Rafa had a back injury from the pressure of playing on the PS4. We might need some sense of humour please!"

Nadal is one of 32 stars competing in a video game version of the Spanish capital's clay-court event, which should have taken place next week.

After beating Canada's Denis Shapovalov in his opening match of the main tournament between ATP players, 19-time Grand Slam champion Nadal was set to play Spanish YouTuber DjMariio in a separate charity match.

But Lopez said Nadal messaged him earlier on Monday asking for his match against the gamer be postponed.

"He had an issue on his back and was a bit injured so he requested to play DjMariio tomorrow," Lopez said in his original statement on the tournament's live YouTube stream.

"I got a text from Rafa before he played Shapovalov saying he injured himself. I don't know if he was working out or what it was. But he was worried about the injury.

"He said 'let me play the match against Shapovalov and that's it for today, then tomorrow I will try to play against DjMariio'."

Nadal, 33, has also been drawn in the same group as Britain's Andy Murray, who beat France's Benoit Paire in his opening match.

The group phase of the event, which has a separate WTA tournament, continues on Tuesday and Wednesday before the semi-finals and finals take place on Thursday.

British number one Johanna Konta, who is among the 16 players in the WTA event, had a difficult start with a 3-0 defeat by Romania's Sorana Cirstea in her opener.

Matches consist of one set in a first-to-three format, with a tie-break to decide the winner if they are locked at 3-3.

Swiss world number seven Belinda Bencic won plaudits for an impressive 3-1 win over Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro, plus the effort she put into an 'on-court' walk before the match.