“He Is Chasing the Numbers” – Former World No.1 Speculates Why Novak Djokovic Participating at US Open
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via Reuters
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning his third round match against Italy’s Andreas Seppi at the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park, Australia, January 22, 2016. REUTERS/Issei Kato
Tennis will resume in a month and every player is sorting out their schedule. US Open is the first Grand Slam in the resuming calendar. But the pandemic and some uneasy protocols have made it a no-go for a lot of players. Notably, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have, time and again, hinted that they may skip the US Open.
The USA is in a worse state than Europe in terms of the coronavirus. The daily new cases are high and the country is facing its second wave of cases. The pandemic has eased in Europe and so it seems much safer to play there rather than the US. Also, the US Open has limited the entourage that can accompany the player. Nowadays, the top players have a huge support staff with them. But the USTA has limited the number. So players are perplexed and uncertain.
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“I wonder if Rafael Nadal is going to take the chance coming to the US Open” – Chris Evert
Former World No.1 Chris Evert gave her insight into the matter. In an interview with Ubitennis, she spoke about Djokovic and Nadal’s participation. She mentioned that Nadal could skip the US Open because he wouldn’t want to risk an injury when, instead, he can play and practice on clay courts in Europe.
“It depends on what’s going on there, I think Europe is not that bad. You know that Federer is not coming over because of his knee, but I wonder if Nadal’s gonna take that chance coming over here playing on hard courts maybe getting injured maybe not even winning it. He could just stay in Europe and practice on the clay.”
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And she also highlighted that Djokovic would have to make a tough decision. On one hand, he will have a reduced team, quarantine, etc. And on the other, he could easily win the US Open because the top players won’t be there.
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“If Djokovic sees Nadal and Federer and maybe a couple of other players not playing and he is chasing the numbers wouldn’t he wanna take advantage of that,” she said
Recently, Nadal was seen practicing on clay courts. This has been translated to Rafa skipping the US Open. Djokovic, however, is practicing on hard courts. Let’s wait and watch what final decision the top two players in the world take.
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