Rafael Nadal will return to competition by making his debut at the hard-court tournament in Washington.
The Citi Open announced Thursday that the 20-time Grand Slam champion is in the field for the July 31 to Aug. 8 event that serves as a US Open tuneup.
“I am very excited to come to Washington for the first time,” Rafa said in a statement. “I have never been there and it’s one more place I wanted to come and play. I am looking forward to playing again and Washington shall be the best start for the US Summer Swing for me. Looking forward to seeing again my US fans that I haven’t seen since I won the 2019 US Open in NYC!. Vamos!”
Rafa has not played since his loss to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the French Open last month.
He decided to sit out Wimbledon, which ends Sunday, and the Tokyo Olympics, which open July 23, saying his body needed time to rest and recover after the clay-court season.
The tournament says Rock Creek Park Tennis Center will be allowed to have spectators at 50% of capacity. Last year’s Citi Open was canceled because of the pandemic.
Source: Associated Press
Well, what a Wimbledon this year ! Let me count: No Del Potro, No Thiem, No Nadal, No Warinka from the beginning, Murray way past his good times, Federer approaching 40 and coming back from double surgery. Well who else would Djokovic want out to win this ? It is insane as I am reading match analysis now (did not watch the match) that Berrettini managed to win the first set after saving set point ??? I think that this kind of Djokovic would have been brutally exterminated by the 2019 Federer. Try to compare this Wimbledon to 2019 counterpart and you will be blown away by the emptiness of the field.
I honestly can not believe what has happened with Rafa this year! He was two sets up and almost winning the match with Tsitsipas just to lose the match going to five sets. He started crumbling down out of nowhere while 5-0 up with Djokovic in Paris and continued to lose the match. He stayed out of this kind of Wimbledon due to tiredness.
Is anyone aware if he is dealing with some kind of mental issues? It would help us a lot to sort may things out.
Nikos,
For me the loss against stefanos in australia was more devastating for me then te loss against nole in Paris.
Nadal had a unbelievable chance of doing what djokovic has done in paris last month that is winning al grandslams more dan once.
Nadal was un a roll winning 35 sets in a row till now i dont know why he lost that match we will never know.
Its good that nadal had skipped wimbeldon and the olympics. In my opinion nadal is playing too much clay court tournaments.
I think there were two reasons why Rafa lost to Stef at AO21 – he had been injured, couldn’t practice properly and was out of shape physically (he said that earlier in the tournament), and so when he let his opponent back into the match, which is something he’s doing too much over the last couple of years, he didn’t have the stamina to make a comeback. I believe he was injured in the RG semi as well. Some players, including Shapo on Friday, have spoken about the stress of having to live in a bubble at tournaments and if there is a mental issue, it could be that.
The rescheduling of the clay season (or what remained of it) in 2020 and RG this year has done him no favours either. Rafa has played only a few tournaments and not had good enough results in them. The unfortunate consequence is that Rafa has lost his ranking and that’s going to get even worse when the COVID rules are removed, currently that’s due to happen after Toronto, but I’m hoping for an extension. Being seeded outside of the top four means it will be even harder for him to win anything. That’s why I wrote earlier that Rafa needs some really good results this summer. He needs to break out of what will likely otherwise become a vicious circle of losing matches, confidence and ranking.
Nikos, I, too, have been worrying about what is going on —-or not going on—-with Rafa for a while now. I don’t think it’s just one thing bothering him.
He is not one to complain and did put on a brave face to play despite the quarantining and restrictions on Tour.
Neither he nor his team is talking about his foot problem even though he mentioned it in his interview on “Mi Casa Es La Tuya.”
Anyone who has followed Rafa knows that the foot problem has led to knee and back issues. When Nike found a solution for Rafa to play with a specially built shoe, Rafa and his team were advised by his medical team that he would experience medical problems at some point in the future. Perhaps he has surpassed that point and it has become worse than expected. Hopefully not. We just don’t know.
We know Rafa is affected by any upheaval in his personal life as we saw when his parents separated. I hope all is ok for him at home but strongly feel that others should not be speculating about his private life.
Rafa said he could deal with losses and that the “fear of losing was his enemy.” I do wonder if this could be a factor for his inconsistency.
It could be something we know nothing about.
Last, but not least, maybe his body is simply telling him it has been through a lot. My wish for him is to be well in body and mind. Rafa insists he is not ready to retire and wants to continue to do what makes him happy. I hope he finds his equilibrium.
So the inevitable has happened. For me it was a forgone conclusion. Sorry. I didn’t watch at all. Actually I never watch DJ’s matches. Very depressing!!!!
Djokovic does everything possible to win – from studying his opponent – diet – affirmations – visualisation etc etc.
Rafa has it tough in the US open. It’s not just Djokovic.
Just hope he keeps fit, well, hits form and that his confidence is high.
Also hope he studies his greatest opponent well, and comes up with some great new tactics and strategy.
Wish you everything you need to keep fit and win. Please Rafa please!!!
VAMOS
🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞
I hope the rest and time away from tennis will help Rafa come back healthier, both mentally and physically and will win some tournaments again. Tennis would not be the same without Rafa and Federer.
MEGA BUMMER!
Now it’s up to Rafa to get ROCKIN’
A break to Djokovic. I’ve turned off too now, Mac!!
Djockovic is playing very smart in not taking any risk and giving Barrettini no pace, hence drawing the errors. I hope Berrettini doesn’t get drawn into his web again in the third. At least Berrettini is serving first.