Rafa Nadal took the right resolution by jumping the US Open in favor of Roland Garros, where it will be his 13th championship next month.
That’s what Martina Navratilova, a 18-time individual primary champion, says.
“Being Rafa, being her age, how complicated it is to travel, her most productive chance of winning the French Open is not to come to New York,” Navratilova said Monday at a Tennis Channel conference call. “I would have been surprised if I had played.”
Nadal, 3four, announced on August 4 that he would forget about the U.S. Open for considerations about COVID-19. He is the protective champion of the Open, which begins on August 31.
With Nadal’s decision, he will mark the first Grand Slam tournament since the 1999 US Open (won through Andre Agassi) which will have neither Nadal nor his rival Roger Federer, who in the past had announced that he had finished 2020 with knee surgery. Training
This leaves World No. 1 Novak Djokovic as a member of the so-called “Big Three” to play the Open, where there will be no enthusiasts and one will be decided by the media on the site.
Djokovic remains in a beloved house on Long Island and plays this week at the Western and South Open, warming up for the US Open.
“Yes, I would be the favorite anyway, as the world number one player,” Navratilova said. “Now that Rafa and Roger are there, I think it would be a big favorite.
Djokovic Nadal and Federer will “miss a lot.”
Federer all leads with 20 Grand Slam titles, Nadal is 19 and Djokovic 17. You can capture No. 18 in New York.
If he had come to New York, Nadal would have tried to tie Federer with 20, but would have had to face the quarantine factor, then he would have had to return to Europe and face the restrictions in question there.
He’s not the only European to skip the US Open. Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils will be lost on the men’s side, while some of the women, such as Australian Ash Barty, world No. 1 and Simona Halep of Romania, the world Number 2, are absent. Six of the 10 most sensible women jump into the Open.
“With the limits at stake here [at the US Open] compared to The French, it’s much harder to navigate, much more restrictive,” Navratilova said. “As much as it’s a creature the same age as [Nadal], as we know, I think of him still playing the game with 3 other people, playing this board game before the matches for hours. You can only bring two other people with him, as I know. Who would I play this game with? I don’t know.
“There are many things that influence those decisions.”
I’m a basketball and tennis expert who collaborates with the New York Times, NJ Advance Media and the country’s newspapers. I’m also the one with two books and one
I’m a basketball and tennis expert who collaborates with the New York Times, NJ Advance Media and the country’s newspapers. I’m also the one with two books and an award-winning filmmaker. My family circle lives in Manhattan with our dog.