Nadal favourite for US Open with Djokovic absence and other stars misfiring
Tennis star Rafael Nadal might well have boarded his flight to Cincinnati with an extra spring in his step.
As the Spaniard prepares to return to action next week, a series of upsets in Montreal boosted his hopes of winning a record-extending 23rd grand-slam men’s singles title at the US Open.
Early defeats for Daniil Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas on Wednesday meant that the Rogers Cup became the first ATP Masters 1000 tournament since Indian Wells in 1999 to lose all three of its top seeds after one match each.
When you take into account the absence of other players for various reasons this week, Casper Ruud, the world No 7, was the only member of the top eight to reach the last 16.
Nadal, 36, has not played since the quarter-finals of Wimbledon on July 6, after which he pulled out of his semi-final because of a tear in his abdominal muscle.
But as it stands there is little to fear in the rest of the field for the US Open, which begins on August 29.
Crucially, it appears his arch-rival will not even be in the draw. Novak Djokovic remains on the entry list, hoping that the US government will relax the rules that require all foreign travellers to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
With each day that passes this becomes increasingly unlikely, with his coach Goran Ivanisevic admitting last week that he had “zero hope”.
This will be a hammer blow for Djokovic, whose Wimbledon win closed the gap to Nadal to one grand-slam title.
His case was backed by four Republican members of congress, who co-signed a letter to President Biden this month calling for him to drop the vaccination mandate. It has had no impact despite the claim by the lobbying politicians that Djokovic is a “perfect ambassador”.
Alexander Zverev is also another potential absentee. The world No 2 from Germany is still recovering from his horrific ankle turn during his French Open semi-final against Nadal in June and has withdrawn from Cincinnati. It seems more likely now that he will make his return at the Davis Cup group stages in Germany next month.
The only high-profile player to have made a big impact during the American hard-court swing is Nick Kyrgios.
The Australian’s victory from a set down over Medvedev, the world No 1, on Wednesday backed up his stated belief that he can beat anyone on his day.
Before his run to the final of Wimbledon last month it was widely considered that Kyrgios, 27, did not have the physical and mental strength required to last seven best-of-five-set matches over a fortnight.
This now appears to be an outdated theory, considering that he was only two sets from defeating Djokovic for his first grand-slam singles title.
The world No 37’s efforts this week have also all but secured a US Open seeding.
The likes of Medvedev, Alcaraz and Tsitsipas still have time if they wish to gain some pre-US Open momentum in Cincinnati next week, but it does seem that an opportunity beckons for others at Flushing Meadows.
Even Matteo Berrettini, the Italian with arguably the best serve-forehand combination on the tour, crashed out in the first round this week to Pablo Carreño Busta in straight sets.
