Rafael Nadal has signalled his intention not to defend his US Open title this year in potentially a major blow for the American Grand Slam event.
The Spanish great was on Tuesday announced in the field for the rescheduled clay court Madrid Open, which starts the day after Flushing Meadows.
‘I talked to my friend Rafael Nadal and he has confirmed his participation in Madrid,’ tweeted tournament director Feliciano Lopez.
It appears highly unlikely that Nadal would play in both the Spanish event, which begins on September 13, and what is due to be the first Major back.
With his history of knee problems, making a quick transition from hard to clay courts would be extremely risky, assuming he reached the second week in New York.
So it looks likely that Nadal will instead concentrate on building up to late September and Roland Garros, where he is almost invincible.
Should he skip the US Open it would be the first time a defending Grand Slam champion has voluntarily ceded his title in more than 40 years.
Another factor in play is the ATP’s decision this week to temporarily switch to a ranking system based on averaged out results over 22 months rather than 12 months. This means that Nadal, who has publicly spoken of being reluctant anyway to travel to New York, could only equal or lose ranking points by playing there, as he won it in 2019.
He appears content to put all his eggs in the basket of Paris, where he could equal Roger Federer’s 20 Major titles.
The Spaniard has not yet pulled out of the US Open but if he does so Novak Djokovic is surely more likely to travel across the Atlantic to try and add to his tally of 17 Grand Slam trophies.
Nadal’s absence would be a huge dent to the New York tournament’s prestige, especially as Roger Federer is already a non-runner through injury.
It puts the whole venture into more doubt, with a decision on it going ahead likely by the end of the month. The US is grappling with severe coronavirus numbers in many states and, while improving, New York has been hit hard.
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