August 20, (THEWILL) – The colourful sense of competition that highlights the final Grand Slam of the calendar year, the US Open, will be subdued with the sheer number and quality of absentees that have confirmed their withdrawal from the major and this was worsened with the recent announcement from world number four Rafael Nadal.
With less than two weeks to the first service at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre, the Spaniard fired up a series of tweets in Spanish that confirmed that he was going to miss not only the upcoming Open but the rest of 2021 season due to a foot injury he was nursing.
Nadal used the tweet thread to explain that he aggravated the nature of the foot injury during the course of his illustrious career and it was now causing him unbearable pain. Part of his aggravation was the resolute fight he put up against the Serb Novak Djokovic in unsuccessfully trying to defend his French Open title.
The effort it took left him dissipated and in pain. Therefore, Nadal withdrew from the next major at the Wimbledon Championships and the Olympic Games as well to allow his body recover and for the pain to subside. He then returned in the North American hardcourt swing at the ATP 500 tournament in Washington, as THEWILL reported.
Although, the former world number one marked his return with a win in the first round and an entertaining three-set victory against Jack Sock in the second, Nadal fell to South Africa’s Lloyd Harris in the following match as the pain he endured throughout interfered with his play.
He was still a hopeful for the US Open in New York, but the announcement of his withdrawal confirms that he will not be able to compete for a record breaking 21st Grand Slam, as he remains tied with Djokovic and Roger Federer at 20 major titles each. The larger implication will be that this will be the first year since 2016 that Nadal will completely miss winning at least one of the four majors.
As THEWILL reported, Federer himself had confirmed a no-show at the last Open of the year as he is due to undergo his third surgery to repair his knee. There is no timeframe for his return after being out for almost all of 2020 because of the initial pair of surgeries. With him clocking 40 two Sundays ago, there is a sense the his competitive years are behind him.
To complete the roster of competing men’s withdrawal from the US Open is the defending champion himself Dominic Thiem. Unfortunately for the Austrian, a persistent wrist injury has conspired to keep him from being available to defend the title he won in 2020.
It could be a stretch to include world number one Djokovic in the list of tennis professionals that may miss the US Open but there are also major question marks on the fitness levels of the Serb, both mentally and physically ahead of the big event in New York.
As THEWILL reported Djokovic returned home from the Tokyo Olympics empty-handed, and admitted to feeling fatigued and injured in post-Olympic remarks. He pulled out of two preparatory Masters 1000 tournaments for the US Open to give himself more time to recover fully.
Nothing has come from him yet about if he will compete in New York at the moment as the days close in on the commencement of the major.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
