It’s been a while since Rafael Nadal has played in the US Open. After missing the previous two editions of this competition, the Spaniard will return to action with his eyes set on winning another Grand Slam crown.
The last time he played at Flushing Meadows, Nadal claimed his fourth US Open title in 2019 by beating Daniil Medvedev in the final – who subsequently won his first-ever Grand Slam here after he defeated Novak Djokovic last year.
Elsewhere, SBOTOP tennis fans are gutted to see two of the top contenders in Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic out for different reasons. However, defending champion Daniil Medvedev should still face stiff competition nonetheless.
Check out the latest US Open 2022 updates by continuing to read down below.
Rafael Nadal’s pursuit of No. 5
Nadal is fresh from a three-set loss to eventual champion Borna Coric during the Cincinnati Masters. Prior to that, the Mallorca native missed out on the final four of Wimbledon since he was forced to retire due to an abdominal injury.
Despite having little momentum and with his fitness problems recently, the second-seeded Nadal is still a top player to beat in New York – according to the US Open 2022 odds – because he has won multiple titles thus far this term.
After sitting out the second half of 2021 due to injuries, Rafael Nadal made a perfect comeback this year. He won at Melbourne before taking his first Australian Open crown in more than a decade, which was followed by victories in Acapulco, Mexico and France while reaching the Indian Wells Masters final.
Because of his solid performances, the 36-year-old is likely to qualify for the next Nitto ATP Finals in mid-November, which is reserved for the top eight players of each year.
In the end, though, the biggest question mark on Nadal is his health. The 36-year-old may be as tough as nails and you can never write him off, but Father Time is always undefeated.
Alexander Zverev injured, Novak Djokovic still banned in the US
Because he’s still recovering from a serious injury, Alexander Zverev announced his withdrawal from the US Open. The 25-year-old hasn’t played since June after suffering a ligament tear in his ankle during his semis clash versus Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros.
The World No. 2 was fighting to be fit for the Flushing Meadows event, but he will have to wait even longer for his first-ever Grand Slam.
The closest chance he got was in this same exact tournament two years ago before Dominic Thiem rallied to beat him in five sets. Last year, Zverev won the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo before losing to Novak Djokovic during the US Open semi-finals.
Zverev won’t be the only Top 10 ATP player who is going to be absent in the Arthur Ashe Stadium, unless the US relaxes their border restrictions on Novak Djokovic.
“I am preparing as if I will be allowed to compete, while I await to hear if there is any room for me to travel to the US. Fingers crossed!” he posted recently on his social media.
Djokovic won’t change course on his stance to not get vaccinated for COVID-19. The 21-time Grand Slam winner was forced out of the Cincinnati Masters and the Montreal Open recently for this exact reason.
“I’m not planning to get vaccinated, so the only good news I can have is them removing the mandated green vaccine card or whatever you call it to enter United States or exemption,” said Djokovic last month after winning Wimbledon.
American player John Isner and tennis great John McEnroe criticised the decision to keep Djokovic from playing, with Isner calling it a “lunacy” while McEnroe saying that it’s “BS”.
However, there’s a glimmer of hope that Djokovic might play since the CDC updated their COVID-19 guidelines few days ago, which includes a pending review of the guidelines concerning unvaccinated foreign travelers.
Daniil Medvedev not in the best of form
Medvedev have had a mixed bag of results lately and he’ll look to be more consistent ahead of his US Open title defence.
Since being banned from Wimbledon for his country’s invasion of Ukraine, the Russian won the Los Cabos Open, but lost early to Nick Kyrgios in the Canadian Open Round of 32 and most recently to Stefanos Tsitsipas in Cincinnati.
The 25-year-old enters the Flushing Meadows as the No. 1 player in the ATP rankings. However, he has yet to play like one in these past few tournaments.
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