Nadal is all set to participate in as many as 4 events across August and September, having taken a small break post-Wimbledon for recovery.
Rafael Nadal enters the US Open, the final grand slam of the year, unbeaten at that level in the 2022 season. Nadal has victories in Australia and France, which took him clear as the most-ever grand slams won by a man above Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, before being forced to pull out of Wimbledon ahead of his semi-final due to an abdominal tear.
Nevertheless, he boasts a 19-0 record in grand slams this year, and New York is his second-most successful event, with 4 victories on those hard courts in the 2010s. The biggest concern for him will be his well-being: he has been plagued by injuries, and will want his body to be at its best. Outside of the slams, he hasn’t partaken in many events in 2022 — making his achievements all the more spectacular — but the Spaniard is all set to participate in as many as 4 events across August and September, having taken a small break post-Wimbledon for recovery.
This begins with the Canadian Masters 1000 event in Montreal, between August 7 and 14. He has won the event, which alternates between Toronto and Montreal every year, 5 times, making it his most successful hard court Masters. He last won the event in 2019.
He will also participate in the Cincinnati Masters, which has a short turn-around time: he will likely only have a two-day gap before that event, which begins on August 13 and lasts till August 21. He hasn’t played in Ohio since 2017. He has won the tournament only once, back in 2013.
The main thing to look forward to will be the fortnight-long US Open, which is the golden goose for Nadal: a fifth title at Flushing Meadows will put him level with Federer at this slam. That will begin on August 9, and the final will be on September 11.
The USO will be best-of-5, which might be facing over the course of 7 rounds, but the Spaniard has also committed himself to the exhibition Laver Cup event between September 23-25. He will play alongside his great rivals, Federer and Djokovic, as well as Andy Murray for Team Europe — a showpiece of the greatest men’s players of this generation.
Source By – The Times of India
