The Spanish Rafael Nadal will return to the circuit this Wednesday, in the ATP 500 in Washington, after almost two months of inactivity (he last played on June 11, in the semifinals of Roland Garros; he lost to Novak Djokovic). The current number 3, with physical problems, decided not to compete at Wimbledon or the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. This did not prevent him from closely following the results and some matches, such as the one that crowned his compatriot Pablo Carreño Busta with the individual bronze . In that match, Novak Djokovic had a fit of rage: he flipped the racket to the rostrum and a while later smashed another one with a blow against the pipe of the net. The attitude of the Serbian did not go unnoticed by Rafa.
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“Luckily there were no people in the stands and nothing else happened, but hey, they are things that happen from time to time and I think you have to try to avoid them. When these things happen, the image is not the best ”, expressed, at a press conference, Rafa Nadal, winner of 20 Grand Slam trophies (Djokovic and the Swiss Roger Federer have the same amount).
Nadal, 35, appreciated that Djokovic apologized after the incident but insisted that “it is important to avoid this type of situation and more so if you are a reference for many children. In the end he is number one in the world and one of the best in history (…) It is strange that someone, being so successful, reacts in this way from time to time, but in the end he is very competitive and reacts like that ” .
If Djokovic wins the next US Open, he would become the first man to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969. Can he? “He has already won three, so when you win three, you can win four, for sure. He’s going to play on hard courts, probably his best surface, so why not? Of course it is somewhat difficult. There will be other guys who want to achieve the last Slam of the season. But, of course, he is one of the clear favorites ”, said the Mallorcan.
In the USA, for the 89th title
The American Jack Sock or the Japanese Yoshinito Nishioka will be Nadal’s rival in the second round from Washington. The tournament, which distributes US $ 2,046,340 in prizes and is played on hard surfaces, has several important players in the table, where Rafa is the first seed: Felix Auger-Aliassime (2nd seed), Jannik Sinner, Sebastian Korda and Nick Kyrgios (last champion), among others (there are no Argentine players in the table).
“My body decided for myself. If I had to choose, I would never miss Wimbledon and the Olympics, but I couldn’t compete in these events. I had some problems with my foot. I had to stop playing tennis for 20 days. Then I started practicing, half an hour, then a little more. I went through the whole process. When I looked at the calendar, I saw Washington as my goal and here I am. The decision was the right one, ”said Nadal, who won two titles this season, both on brick dust (Barcelona and the Masters 1000 in Rome).
“I need to find the competitive level of tennis again. I hope I can find that in Washington. If not, hopefully in the coming weeks, “contributed the former number 1, who conducted training in the US capital before a crowd. Nadal was happy to play in a fully capable American stadium for the first time since his conquest at the 2019 US Open. “I’m excited to be playing in the United States again after more than a year,” concluded Nadal, who will seek his individual title number 89.
