Defending champion Rafael Nadal will skip the U.S. Open due to the coronavirus pandemic, his standby bet to fit Roger Federer’s men’s record for Grand Slam titles.
Nadal explained his in a series of tweets sent Tuesday in Spanish and English.
“The situation is very complicated worldwide, the COVID-19 cases are increasing, it looks like we still don’t have control of it,” Nadal wrote.
The 34-year-old from Spain called sitting out the tournament scheduled to begin Aug. 31 in New York “a decision I never wanted to take,” but added that he would “rather not travel.”
“Rafa is one of the biggest champions of our game and we are his decision,” said US Open tournament director Stacey Allaster.
The woman recently ranked No. 1, Ash Barty, had already announced that the U.S. Open would be lost. The American Tennis Association’s listing announcements noted Tuesday that 2019 women’s champion Bianca Andreescu is on the court, at least for now; players can retire until the start of the game, but have not mentioned Nadal.
Professional tennis tours have been suspended since March due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and the women’s match resumed on Monday in Palermo, Italy. The first male occasion of the tour is expected to take position by the end of this month.
Nadal’s plan to skip the U.S. Open He arrived here some time after the Madrid Open, scheduled for September, was cancelled due to the pandemic.
“We know that the reduced tennis schedule is brutal this year after a four-month half-time no-game,” Nadal wrote on Twitter. “I sense and appreciate the efforts you are making for this.”
In last year’s last men’s mystery at Flushing Meadows, Nadal beat Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-3, 5-7, four-6, 6-four in four hours and 50 minutes. That gave Nadal four US Open titles and a total of 19 at all Grand Slam tournaments, just one of Federer’s careers.
Federer will also be absent from the U.S. Open, due to two operations on his right knee this year.
The last Grand Slam tournament was played without Federer and Nadal at the 1999 US Open, four years before Nadal made his debut in one of the sport’s 4 most prestigious events.
The USTA has repeatedly given indications of its goal of moving forward with the U.S. Open, despite peak instances in the United States, noting in a press release last week: “New York State remains one of the safest places in the country “considers the COVID-19 virus.”
This is true lately: the region was a primary hot spot in the United States at the beginning of the pandemic, as much as a construction site in the United States. S. Open was used as a transient hospital.
New York City hospitals won more than 18,000 COVID-19 patients in mid-April, when infections increased and more than 750 patients with the disease died daily in hospitals and nursing homes. These numbers declined in May, and hospitalization rates and new positive instances of COVID-19 have been strong since June.
There are considerations about travel, as Nadal pointed out.
The USTA is making plans for a dual type of program at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The Western and South Open, a hard-court tournament played in Cincinnati, has moved to the US Open site this year due to the pandemic and is scheduled to be played August 20-28.
That is supposed to be followed by the U.S. Open itself. And then, two weeks after the U.S. Open closes on Sept. 13, the French Open is scheduled to begin in Paris, having been postponed from its usual May start.
“I know our enthusiasts will be disappointed not to see Rafa play at the Western and South Open and this year’s U.S. Open,” Allaster said. “However, for enthusiasts and sport, we look forward to being encouraged by it when he makes the decision to be able to play.”
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