Tennis’s Top Stars Choose to Rest Ahead of the US Open


As tennis tours heat up for the US Open in the heat of North America’s summer, the sport’s top players will arrive in chilly New York.

The five active players with the most Grand Slam titles – Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Venus Williams – were absent at both this week’s National Bank Open in Toronto and Montreal and next week’s Western & Southern in the suburbs of Cincinnati open. Veterans have all played selective programs this year, but their wholesale absences from the warm-up to the final big tournament of the year, which kicks off on August 30, are remarkable.

Djokovic, 34, was the only one of the group to compete at the Tokyo Olympics, while Federer, Nadal and Serena Williams did not participate, and Venus Williams’ singles ranking of 112 did not qualify him for the Olympics.

Djokovic’s bid for his first gold medal ended in disappointment. Djokovic reached the semi-finals in both singles and mixed doubles. lost the singles bronze medal match Pablo Carreño went to Busta and withdrew from the mixed doubles bronze medal match due to a left shoulder injury.

Djokovic, who will seek to become the first person to win four Grand Slam singles titles in New York since 1969, blamed his withdrawal from Cincinnati for fatigue.

“It’s taking a little longer for me to recover and recover after a rather grueling trip from Australia to Tokyo,” Djokovic said. West and South defending champion, aforementioned. “Unfortunately, that means I won’t be ready to race in Cincinnati this year, so I’ll turn my focus and attention to the US Open and spend some more time with my family. See you soon in New York!”

Nadal, 35, is the only player in the group to play a warm-up match in North America. After that withdraw from both Wimbledon and the Olympics He played two games at the Citi Open in Washington with a left foot injury and defeated Jack Sock before losing to 50th-placed Lloyd Harris.

Nadal, who has long suffered from foot problems due to his navicular bone not ossifying correctly in childhood, was optimistic about his progress after losing to Harris.

“The best news: The foot was better than yesterday,” Nadal said last week. “I was able to move a little bit better, so it’s very important for me, especially personally, to continue to enjoy the sport and to have the energy to believe that important things are possible.”

But after practice in Washington and Toronto, Nadal withdrew from the National Bank Open on Tuesday.

“I was particularly sore in the first game,” Nadal said of his game in Washington on Tuesday. “And I was suffering in training too. But you always expect or hope for improvement, and that’s why I came here. And that didn’t improve, right? So I believe I can’t compete at the level I really need because the foot doesn’t allow me to move the way I need to.” “

Federer, who turned 40 on Sunday, showed knee injury This forced him out of the Olympics with withdrawals from Toronto and Cincinnati.

Serena Williams, who will turn 40 next month, said she suffered a leg injury while pulling out of Cincinnati on Tuesday. WTA Tour ranking dropped to 20th place.

But men lacked similar transitional moments at sport’s biggest events. when Dominic Thiem won last year’s US Open At the age of 27, he supposedly did this without having to confront anyone. big tree. Nadal and Federer missed the tournament and Djokovic defaulted in the fourth round match. hit the line player with the ball. Thiem has been out of competition since June, when he suffered an acute right wrist injury at a tournament in Majorca. He Posted on Instagram He said on Wednesday he “replaced the splint with the racquet”.

Thiem’s ​​US Open win last year remains the only Grand Slam singles title won by a man born in the 1990s; 17 Grand Slam titles were won by women born in that decade, with two more won by women born in the 2000s.

When asked about the absence of resident stars following Nadal’s withdrawal, third place Stefanos Tsitsipas drew attention to the upside of the problem.

“I think there’s room for new stars,” Tsitsipas said after his second-round win in Toronto. “A lot has happened about them in recent years, and I think it shows that something has changed now. We see players from a different generation stand out and show what they can do.

“It’s interesting to have this kind of diversity and change of thrones, let’s call it that,” Tsitsipas said. “It’s interesting for our game. We ourselves formed our own team of people and fans who support us, give us love and follow us in every match.”

a fan He seemed very excited for Tsitsipas “Please touch me!” in Toronto she begs. while reaching for it.

There was no physical contact, but the fans left satisfied. “She smiled at me! She literally smiled!”





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