Rafael Nadal already exuded confidence at press conferences in Madrid and Paris last week. His left foot is no longer causing any problems
Serena Williams, too, like Federer 40, recently appeared more often at events (here at the Formula 1 GP in Austin, Texas) than at tennis tournaments
Despite all the problems last year, the Japanese Naomi Osaka remained the top earner in women’s sports. Estimated income: $ 52.2 million
Federer, Nadal, Williams and Osaka with ambitious plans – Gallery
Roger Federer (here as a spectator at the Laver Cup in Boston) hopes to return to the circuit in summer 2022
Rafael Nadal already exuded confidence at press conferences in Madrid and Paris last week. His left foot is no longer causing any problems
Serena Williams, too, like Federer 40, recently appeared more often at events (here at the Formula 1 GP in Austin, Texas) than at tennis tournaments
Despite all the problems last year, the Japanese Naomi Osaka remained the top earner in women’s sports. Estimated income: $ 52.2 million
The Masters in Turin (men) and Guadalajara (women) ended last week with great successes for Alexander Zverev and Garbiñe Muguruza. The big stars were sorely missed.
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams – currently all “Missing in Action”! At the beginning of the short game-free phase, the question arises: What will the next year bring for the aging top stars and the mentally depressed Naomi Osaka?
In March, on his last comeback, Roger Federer said he felt the story wasn’t over. Since then, Federer has only played 13 singles, had a third knee operation and 40 in August. Federer is planning the next comeback attempt for next summer – if health allows.
In the “Interview by Ringier” magazine, Roger Federer recently wished “that I could choose the moment when my career ended. I am sure I will know when that moment has come. “
It is certainly to be expected that Roger Federer will remain present in tennis. In the best case with a farewell tour, but certainly as the face of the deluxe exhibition he launched, the Laver Cup. Federer will receive wild cards for tournaments as long as he makes it onto the pitch without a walker.
But it is not necessarily to be expected that Federer will still play for tournament victories. Federer’s greatest handicap in the title race against Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal (all 20 Grand Slam titles currently): Unlike Nadal on clay or Djokovic on hard court, there is no longer a pad in which Federer is one step ahead of the competition at the start.
Rafael Nadal (35) is five years younger than Federer and much closer to the comeback. Last week, Nadal spoke about his comeback plans after breaking off his season with a left foot injury in the summer. Nadal wants to play again in Abu Dhabi in December: “There are good days and not so good days. But mostly I feel fine. I feel so good that I can set myself high goals again. “
If Nadal stays healthy, he can still win one to three Grand Slam titles – and ensure that Novak Djokovic does not pull away in these statistics. But staying healthy was never easy for Nadal. Since his debut, he has missed eleven major tournaments. In Paris, Nadal remains the top favorite until someone beats him there, when the Spaniard is in full power.
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Like Federer, Serena Williams celebrated her 40th birthday in late summer and most recently hobbled off Center Court at Wimbledon. For almost five years (since the Australian Open 2017), Williams has been on the hunt for the 24th major title, which she won Margaret Courts record would equalize.
But Serena doesn’t show her cards: does she dare to win another Grand Slam title? Or does she concentrate on her other business areas and tasks that are there: mother, entrepreneur, housewife, fashion connoisseur.
Four-year-old daughter Alexis Olympia is an absolute priority in Serena Williams’ life. Nevertheless, Williams can look back on a stable presence on the tennis circuit since the Olympics. She was present at 13 of 15 major tournaments. Whether she will start in Melbourne in January depends primarily on the entry restrictions for her and her daughter.
Because she doesn’t have to worry about Margaret Court’s record. The Australian won her 24 titles from 1960 to 1973 and most of them before the beginning of the professional era (from 1968), when the best were only admitted to the Grand Slam tournaments. Serena Williams has been accepted as the most successful athlete of all time (men AND women) in the tennis circus since she surpassed Steffi Graf. The GOAT question as with men (Djokovic, Federer or Nadal?) No longer arises with women.
Naomi Osaka is only 24, but a problematic return to the courts is waiting for her too. After all, there was good news recently from Osaka’s Instagram account: She is in training and is ready to return after a year of turmoil. Most recently, Osaka was seen on a tennis court at the US Open, where she was close to a mental breakdown when she was eliminated in the third round. In October, the Japanese dropped out of the top 10, to which she had belonged for 140 weeks, many of them number 1.
2021 started perfectly for Naomi Osaka with the tournament victory at the Australian Open. But in Roland-Garros at the latest, when she refused to take part in press conferences and finally left the tournament of her own free will, it became clear that her tennis career was in danger of getting out of hand. This was followed by Instagram postings from the most exotic areas with the tenor: You have found real life. But in the life of tennis champions, tennis usually takes on the central role.
Osaka had surprised before, for example at the beginning of 2019 when she rose to number 1 for the first time, but then dismissed coach Sasha Bajin, who had led her from 72nd place to 1. Incidentally, the capers on and off the pitch didn’t damage her wallet: According to “Yahoo”, Naomi Osaka earned around $ 55.2 million in the 2020/21 financial year, which is 20 million more than Serena Williams and ten times more than the third major earner in sport, the American gymnast Simone Biles.
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