Rafael Nadal sits behind Roger Federer in terms of total Grand Slams won. Despite being the defending champion, Nadal skipped the US Open 2020 in order to prepare himself for the French Open.

The withdrawal bamboozled everyone as a successful title defence would’ve tied him with the Swiss maestro. However, his decision is justified keeping in mind he is the ‘king of clay.’ With 12 titles on the red clay of Roland Garros, Rafa is poised to create history yet again.

However, former 18 times Grand Slam champion, Martina Navratilova, blares a couple of warnings for the Spaniard. Citing some facts, Navratilova warns that the delayed schedule will affect Rafael Nadal a bit.

“Well, its gonna be trickier for him than usual. Two reasons, he likes a lot of reps, he likes to have a lot of match play and he won’t have in his estimation enough before the French. And the weather it’s going to be cold and rainy, wet heavy conditions, Rafa likes it lively so that his touch can get pace off and he can move people around the court much better. So I think two things are gonna go against him, but still, of course, he’ll be a favorite,” Martina stated.

Rafael Nadal will be going for the record

Roger Federer is out of action for almost a year. Federer has undergone an operation on his knees. Maintaining a perfect post-recovery phase, Federer announced that he’ll be keeping away from tennis for a while.

With 20 Grand Slam titles, Federer leads the race. Rafael Nadal sits at second with 19 and Novak Djokovic follows him with 17 Grand Slams in his tally.

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Participating in the US Open 2020 would’ve meant a greater opportunity for Nadal to touch Federer’s feat and ultimately overtaking it in the Roland Garros. However, his exclusion from the US Open means that he’ll be going for the record in his own arena.

Novak Djokovic won’t be lingering further away from the opportunity. With 17 Grand Slams, he’s just a couple short of Nadal. Already ousted from the US Open due to a default, he’ll be looking forward to narrowing the bridge in Paris.

However, the French Open has not been a good venue for the Serbian. With only one championship in 2016, Paris seems to be a difficult venue for Novak to play his cards. All speculations will be answered once the French Open commences.