Former world
number two Alex Corretja believes that there is no chance Spain’s legendary tennis
star
Rafael Nadal will play in the upcoming
US Open. The 37-year-old is often
regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men’s tennis in the
singles category in the Open era, having won as many as 22 Grand Slam titles.
Nadal has
struggled with fitness concerns in the recent past. Because of this, he missed three out of four Grand Slams in 2023. While staying on the
sidelines last year, the former world number one announced that he would retire
from professional tennis at the end of the 2024 season.
The Spaniard recently took part in the Paris Olympics, where, surprisingly, he played in both singles and doubles categories. In the singles category, he lost to Serbia’s legendary
tennis star Novak Djokovic in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-4. In the
doubles category, he and his partner Carlos Alcaraz lost to America’s pair of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram in the quarterfinal.
Former world number two Corretja was recently
quoted in a report stating that, in his view, Nadal has no chance of playing in the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year. The 50-year-old was of the opinion that no player can play at an event like the US Open
without having played on the hard court for a considerable amount of time
before the mega-event.
"For
the US Open on a fast court? You can’t get there without having played on a
hard court in New York,” he said. “Is he going to go to Cincinnati in 10 days
with the change of surface again? I see it as almost impossible. He has to find
a place where he says, this is as far as I want to go and it is worth making
that effort, like up to the Laver Cup."
