Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal had a dismal 2021 and that is mostly because of the foot injury that he picked up. After the French Open final, he took a rest and went to the North American leg of tours to prepare well for the US Open. He lost early at the Washington Open and was due to make a comeback through Cincinnati. His name was announced and just before the tournament was about to start, he made the announcement on his Instagram Handle that he will miss the entire 2021 season as his doctors and team have asked to wait and see if surgery is required.
Talking about the same Nadal said that he has been having this problem since 2005 and his doctors told him then that he can’t play tennis but still he continued and became one of the greatest. At 34, he was still going strong, as he lost to Djokovic at the French Open and that was his last nail in the coffin as he had to miss the Olympics and Wimbledon. He has promised all his fans that he will return on the court with full force as he still has tennis left in him. However, his body needs some rest as his foot injury has picked up, and might require surgery to get it fixed.
Nadal will be missing US Open twice in a row now and Federer is already out. Djokovic has the best chance now but he is yet to feature in any of the tournaments and fans are wishing that he too doesn’t pull out. If that happens that will be for the 1st time in the last 14 years, that a Grand Slam tournament will be held without the presence of Big 3. Defending Champion Thiem is also nursing a wrist injury and Medvedev and Stsipass are being termed as the 2nd and 3rd favorite after Djokovic to win this year’s US Open.
Rafael Nadal fans were gutted as they won’t be able to see their favorite and 2019 US Open champion Rafael Nadal playing at the Grand Slam event. Nadal didn’t mention the time but as per sources, he won’t be returning before the Australian Open 2022. Federer has crossed 40 while Nadal too is on the wrong side of the 30s and tennis being so fast these days, fitness issues have taken a toll on almost all the players. Young players like Medvedev, Stsipass, and Zverev too have been under the hammer so early in their careers.
Nadal is tied at 20 Grand Slams alongside Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic can only better his slam tally in 2022 now as he won’t be taking part in any of the future tournaments of 2021. This was shocking news for the tennis world as two gun players of tennis will be missing the 2021 season. Fans wished him a speedy recovery and his move to skip the remaining season was supported by his fans. A user wrote that ‘we want to see a healthy Nadal’.