Rafael Nadal May Choose Between The U.S. Open And French Open

Rafael Nadal is the defending champion at both the U.S. Open and the French Open — but he may end up only playing one of them this year.

The French Open is slated to begin two weeks after the U.S. Open under the new pandemic-altered ATP schedule and it may simply be too difficult for the 34-year-old Nadal to play both.

“I think Rafael can also consider choosing one just like Djokovic has said,” said Toni Nadal, Rafa’s uncle and former coach. “…With the U.S. Open, Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros in a row, I think that many players will go for one. Playing all four tournaments all at once can be a problem but it depends on each one.”

The U.S. Open is set to run Aug. 31-Sept. 13 in Flushing Meadows, Queens, with Roland Garros now set to operate Sept. 27-Oct. 11 in Paris. Madrid and Rome — two big French Open warm-up events — would run the weeks in between the two majors.

Nadal has 19 Grand Slam titles, one shy of rival Roger Federer’s all-time men’s mark of 20.

Nadal had already expressed doubts about coming to the U.S. from Europe for the U.S. Open — and that was before Djokovic, who has 17 major titles, turned the tennis world upside down by testing positive for COVID-19 along with three other top players on the Adria Tour.

“Well, it is not an ideal situation, honestly no,” Nadal said earlier this month. “If you ask me today if I want to travel today to New York to play a tennis tournament, I will say no, I will not.

“In a couple of months, I don’t know how the situation is going to improve. Hopefully, it’s going to improve the right way, and I’m sure the people who organize the event, the U.S.T.A., want a safe event, same as the French federation.”

As for the coronavirus disaster with Djokovic and the others on the non-socially distant Adria Tour, now including his coach Goran Ivanisevic, Toni Nadal said Djokovic and friends “should have been more careful.”

“It is a shame what has happened because it was a good initiative for tennis that has ended very badly and given a negative image to the sport and the players,” Toni said. “In Serbia the measures were not so restrictive and the truth is that a number 1 should have been more careful, but they have already apologized, it is a mistake that can happen to anyone.”

ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi recently admitted that the timing of the new events is “not perfect by any means.”

“We realize that the resumption of the calendar is not perfect by any means – we would love to have more events and more playing opportunities, and more space between our marquee events to ease player scheduling,” Gaudenzi said in an interview on the ATP Website.

“The reality is that the economic impact of the crisis has meant that tournaments further down the pyramid are less able to weather the storm than those at the top. But does that mean we should hold back the whole Tour until the situation is fully back to normal? Our judgment was that we need to start somewhere and if we have tournaments at the top level that are able to run, and in a safe environment, providing earning opportunities not only for players but for the whole industry, well that’s a start.”

Between them, Djokovic and Nadal have won the last three U.S. Open titles and five of the last seven. If either or both of them choose not to play at this year’s event, it could open things up for a younger player to capture the title. Daniil Medvedev, who lost to Nadal in an epic five-set final last year, Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas are among the younger guns seeking their first Slam titles.