Rafael Nadal Won’t Chase a Repeat of His U.S. Open Title

The women’s tour resumed this week with a clay court event in Palermo, Italy, but the men’s tour has been shut down for nearly five months and is not set to resume until later this month in New York, with the Western Southern Open followed by the U.S. Open.

The Western Southern Open, normally played in the suburbs of Cincinnati, was moved to New York this year to create a doubleheader in a controlled environment where it would be easier to maintain strict health and safety protocols. Spectators will not be allowed on site at either tournament.

“All my respects to the U.S.T.A., the U.S. Open organizers and the ATP for trying to put the event together for the players and fans around the world through TV,” Nadal said.

But Nadal will instead be watching from afar. So will Federer, who announced that he will not play again in 2020 as he recovers from his latest knee surgery. The last Grand Slam tournament without both Federer and Nadal was the 1999 U.S. Open, which was won by Andre Agassi.

Ashleigh Barty, the No. 1 women’s player, announced last week from her home in Australia that she was withdrawing because of concerns about travel and the health risks for some of her team members.

But many leading players are, at least for now, committed to playing the U.S. Open, including Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Karolina Pliskova, Sofia Kenin and Bianca Andreescu, the reigning women’s champion. In the men’s event, Djokovic and six other top 10 players remain on the entry list including Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Medvedev.

But as Zverev pointed out last week, players are closely monitoring the health situation in New York and the travel situation internationally.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/sports/tennis/rafael-nadal-us-open.html