For the first time in three years, the 36-year-old Spaniard is back in Flushing Meadows – with a big question mark over his fitness. His first opponent is the Australian Rinky Hijikata. Dominic Thiem’s first round game against number twelve seeded Pablo Carreno Busta (Sp) is scheduled for today as the third game after 5 p.m. (live ServusTV).
“I hope I’m ready. With the opportunities I have, I hope I’m strong enough to give myself a chance,” Nadal said. For former world-class man Mats Wilander, the Spaniard’s enormous will to continue despite the great pain is particularly remarkable. “I admire him more for that than for his 14 Roland Garros titles,” said the Swede. The chronic foot injury alone can become unbearable at any time from one day to the next. “I can’t understand how a player can do that.”
Nadal was even on the “Grand Slam” course up to the Wimbledon semi-finals, after all, after injuries and Corona and five months without a match, he had surprisingly won the Australian Open and then the French Open for the 14th time. However, it was not his painful permanent injury in his left foot (deformation of the metatarsal bone) that stopped the Mallorcan in London, but an abdominal muscle injury, which enabled Nick Kyrgios to reach the Wimbledon final without a fight.
Nadal could even become number one in the world again. Two major victories and a semi-final put him in pole position in the battle for the tennis throne in 2022, ahead of New York. Defending champion Daniil Medvedev dropped the 2000 points from the previous year.
Before the tournament, Nadal got bad news from home: his pregnant wife Xisca was taken to a clinic in Spain.
Good record, great anticipation
Thiem is the Austrian solo entertainer in New York after his friend Dennis Novak lost 3: 6, 3: 6 to Chilean Nicolas Jarry in the third and final qualifying round. “I’m really looking forward to it,” says Thiem, who has a 7-0 record against Busta.
Source: Nachrichten
