Before the 2020 US Open began, there were always talks of this year’s edition being lighter in terms of the draw. The absence of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal made many people believe that this year the competition will be less and Novak Djokovic’s splendid 2020 run might get be affected by this. However, many players have rejected this notion, including World No.1.

Novak Djokovic speaks on the absence of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

In a press conference after his 2nd round win over Kyle Edmund, Djokovic was asked whether the absence of Federer and Nadal will have an effect on him and the tournament.

Djokovic declared that the withdrawals will not have any influence on his US Open performance. He also acknowledged that the tournament will miss them, but feels the US Open has a strong draw nonetheless.

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“On me, zero. On the tournament, definitely big, big effect because they’re obviously legends of the sport. They are greatly missed. Other than them and maybe Stan, everyone is here. It’s still a very strong field,” Djokovic said.

Nadal who is the defending champion at Flushing Meadows withdrew due to the Coronavirus situation in the US. He cited that it is a risk traveling to the US and so he will stay in Europe and compete in the clay-court tournaments which will begin just after the US Open.

Federer, on the other hand, had his knee surgery, which effectively ruled him out of 2020.

Nevertheless, Djokovic has remained focused and extended his unbeaten record in 2020 to 25-0. He comfortably defeated Kyle Edmund in the 2nd round and will play Jan-Lennard Struff next.

The ‘Big 3, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer, have dominated the tennis scene for more than a decade. With Federer and Nadal absent, Djokovic’s main challengers will be the famed next-gen.

Dominic Thiem, Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev will be some of the players who will be looking to finally break the ‘Big 3’ dominance and give tennis a new Grand Slam Champion.

“A Real Champion”: Novak Djokovic Expresses Admiration for Andy Murray at US Open 2020