Rafael Nadal's Wrist Just Ruined His U.S. Open
14 time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal announced on Monday that he will not be competing in this year's U.S. Open in order to recover from a wrist injury.
The tennis pro informed his fans on his Facebook page with the following message:
I am very sorry to announce I won’t be able to play at this year’s US Open a tournament on which I’ve played 3 consecutive finals in my last participations. I am sure you understand that it is a very tough moment for me since it is a tournament I love and where I have great memories from fans, the night matches, so many things."
The world's number two was injured on the 29th of July during a training session, according to the BBC. He had hoped to heal before the tournament began on August 25, but doctors informed him that he will instead miss the next two to three weeks.
Nadal hasn't competed since his 4th round loss to Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon.
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With Nadal out, Novak Djokovic is poised to win his second U.S. Open title this year. The 27-year-old Serb is coming off a major win against Roger Federer in the finals of Wimbledon in July and was a close runner up to Nadal at last year's U.S. Open.
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However the world's number one has struggled on American hard courts this year. Just last week Djokovic lost to Tommy Robredo at a tournament in Cincinnati.
Nadal's absence and Djokovic's struggles leave the door open for 33-year-old (95 in unofficial tennis years) Roger Federer, who clinched the Cincinnati crown yesterday, to win what could be a final, and record setting 18th Grand Slam title.
Should the third ranked Swiss native ultimately win his sixth crown in New York he would likely have to go through Great Britain's Andy Murray, who beat Djokovic to capture his first and only Grand Slam singles title at the U.S. Open back in 2012.
This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/08/rafael-nadals-wrist-just-ruined-his-us-open/378677/
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