It was not precisely a shock when information broke that Novak Djokovic just isn’t going to take part on this 12 months’s US Open as a consequence of his COVID-19 vaccination standing. Nonetheless, one among his longtime rivals considers it an unlucky scenario. This week, Rafael Nadal mentioned Djokovic’s absence from the US Open is “very unhappy information.”
Djokovic, the 2022 Wimbledon champion and present world No. 6, just isn’t allowed to journey to the USA as a result of nation’s restrictions on unvaccinated international nationals. The unvaccinated Serbian was the 2021 US Open runner-up after dropping to Daniil Medvedev within the title match and was anticipated to be aggressive this 12 months, too.
“From my private perspective, it’s extremely unhappy information,” Nadal mentioned Friday throughout a press convention. “It is at all times a disgrace when the most effective gamers of the world aren’t in a position to play a event due to accidents or due to completely different causes.”
Nadal withdrew from this 12 months’s Wimbledon forward of his semifinal match towards Nick Kyrgios due to an harm, however he’s again on the courtroom and chasing his twenty third Grand Slam singles title within the US Open.
Though reaching that objective is likely to be simpler with out along with his Serbian opponent, the No. 2 seed Nadal would moderately win whereas competing towards the most effective.
“On this case, not having the most effective gamers of the historical past within the draw of a Grand Slam is at all times an essential miss. It is robust for the followers, robust for the event,” Nadal mentioned. “For my part, robust for the gamers, too, as a result of we need to have the most effective discipline attainable. However, then again, I repeat what I’ve mentioned loads of instances: the game in some methods is larger than any participant.”
Nadal has definitely missed his fair proportion of matches. That is the primary time he returns to the US Open since he gained it in 2019. In 2020, the Spaniard selected to not journey as a consequence of security issues regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Final 12 months, he skipped the event as a result of he was coping with a recurring foot harm.
“I’ve missed a whole lot of essential occasions in my tennis profession due to accidents,” Nadal mentioned. “Final 12 months I used to be not right here. Two years in the past I used to be not right here. The event continues. The world of tennis retains going, even when it is not excellent news for everybody.”
The 2022 US Open is going down Aug. 29 by means of Sept. 11 on the Billie Jean King Nationwide Tennis Heart at Flushing Meadows in New York. Click on right here for every part you should learn about this 12 months’s event.
