Four-time US Open champion Rafael Nadal knows exactly what it takes to battle his way to the final of the prestigious Grand Slam event at Flushing Meadows.
This year, the Spaniard is facing a fitness battle just to make it to the first round of the New York tournament as he attempts to recover from a foot injury for the event.
Niggling Injury Continues to Trouble Nadal
There were some eyebrows raised when Nadal, who is one of the favourites in the 2021 US Open betting, declared he would be taking no part in August’s Cincinnati Masters. Having decided to take a break from court, Nadal missed out on both Wimbledon and the Olympic Games in order to be ready for the highly-anticipated US Open.
The 35-year-old did feature in Washington D.C at the start of August, but after missing out on Cincinnati, he has since returned to his native Mallorca in a bid to recover from what has been a foot issue that has plagued him for a couple of months. Describing the problem as “not a happy situation” there are concerns about what shape the 20-time Grand Slam champion will be in for the US Open.
If Nadal can get himself somewhere close to 100 percent for the next major of 2021, then there is no doubting he has the ability to go all the way in the competition. A four-time winner, with his last success in the Big Apple coming in 2019, Nadal has all the experience needed to compete in the latter stages of the hard-court tournament.
Fit Nadal can Cause Djokovic Problems
All eyes will be on rival Novak Djokovic, as the Serbian looks to complete what would be a clean sweep of all four Grand Slam events in 2021. The Belgrade-born star, who will have plenty of backers for the US Open, has done remarkably well to win the first three slams of the year, especially considering what was a short turnaround between the French Open and Wimbledon. But there might be some questions on whether Djokovic could run out of steam towards the end of the year. The 34-year-old decided to take part in the Tokyo Olympics but left Japan with nothing to show for his efforts after a bronze medal match defeat at the hands of Pablo Carreño Busta.
Witnessing Djokovic lose his cool at the Olympics, with a handful of racquet breaks, might well have come as an encouraging sight to Nadal and the Serb’s other rivals. Djokovic has looked unbeatable at times this season, but the defeats to Alexander Zverev and Busta in Tokyo may give others hope of causing an upset in New York.
Before any notion of beating Djokovic in the Big Apple comes to mind, Nadal will firstly be focusing on getting his foot right in time for the Grand Slam. If the Spaniard can tick that box, then his supporters will be excited to see what he can achieve at an intriguing US Open this summer.
