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• US Open: Circumstances ‘don’t matter in 20 years’ in Nadal, Djokovic, Federer GOAT debate – John McEnroe | Eurosport

McEnroe responded: “Yeah but so could Rafa. He hasn’t played [the US Open] for three years because he’s been injured and he didn’t defend his Wimbledon title a couple of times. And you can go down the list.

“Roger [Federer] could have won this had he been healthy. We [McEnroe and Clijsters] could have been contenders and won more! Woulda, coulda, shoulda. In his wildest dreams Djokovic didn’t think ‘I’m going to get thrown out of Australia, Rafa having not played for six months, is going to win it.’ The French Open we can understand.

“Rafa’s going to be No.1 in the world at the end of the year whether he wins this or not.”

• US Open Popcorn Matches: Rafael Nadal and Emma Raducanu headline day two | tennishead.net

Rafael Nadal will kick off the night session on Arthur Ashe, and on paper it looks like it should be a routine win for the second seed. There is, of course, every chance that it will be. However, Nadal is coming into the US Open with plenty of question marks. We don’t know how his abdominal injury has healed and we don’t know if his foot will stand up to the punishment of hardcourts

History suggests that, even if Nadal is not 100%, he will still win the match. It will be interesting to see what kind of a level he is able to produce, though.

• “He’s in a different league, always been and always will be” – Stan Wawrinka on Rafael Nadal | sportskeeda.com

He stated that the 36-year-old is in a league of his own and there’s nothing he can personally take from him as a player.

“No, I think what Rafa has done this year and all his career, like it’s amazing to watch as a tennis fan. You cannot take anything as a player, because he’s in [a] different league, always been and always will be,” he said.

“It’s always amazing to watch him play, to watch him compete, and to watch him at the top of the game after so many years. I enjoy watching him. But as I say, as a player, you cannot take anything,” he added.

• “He’s obviously one of the best players in the world on all surfaces, as he showed this year” – Andy Murray on Rafael Nadal after reaching US Open 2R | sportskeeda.com

“He’s clearly one of the best players to ever play. Obviously his achievements this year have been brilliant. The match to turn the Australian Open around this year was, you know, was exceptional. It was obviously unfortunate at Wimbledon. But yeah, I mean, he’s obviously still one of the best players in the world on all of the surfaces, as he showed this year.”

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Ready to play in NYC! 🗽@RafaelNadal | @bancosantander pic.twitter.com/rYdgQ8aFWI

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) August 27, 2022

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