Will Nadal Be Able to Claim Another Title in the US Open?
If Rafael Nadal can manage to win the US Open in New York then he will earn the privilege of joining an exclusive club comprised of Andre Agassi and Roger Federer; players who both achieved their career Grand Slams before they reached the age of thirty. A player who wins all four Grand Slam major tournaments in the same year is said to have achieved a "Grand Slam."
Agassi achieved his at the age of 29 and Federer at 27 when he took last season’s French Open. Nadal is only 24 years-old, which will make him the youngest member of that exclusive club in the men’s singles. That is, if he manages to earn another title in the USOpen. Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver and Roy Emerson are the only other players who have managed to win all four slams in the men’s singles division.
At the moment, Nadal is winning Grand Slam titles at an earlier age, as well as at a faster pace than Federer has. Currently, Nadal has eight Grand Slam titles, while at that same stage in his career, Federer only had six.
However, Nadal has never reached the finals in New York. Also, for the past couple of years, he has been knocked out of the tournament in the semi-finals. Finally, last summer due to tendonitis in his knees (a reoccurring injury), the current Wimbledon title holder was not able to compete at Rolland Garros or Wimbledon. On top of that, an abdominal strain put an end to his chance at winning the US Open.
“I hope to be ready, to be healthy, because for the last few years I have had problems,” Nadal said enthusiastically about his quest for the title.
“Maybe this year it will be different. Now the most important thing is for me to rest in Majorca, to enjoy the summer there and then have a mini-pre-season practice there.”
Despite his injuries, Nadal seems like he will be able to make this season one of his best with Federer out of the picture. As many seem to have the opinion that Federer, who lost in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon to a 12th seeded player, will not be able to climb his way back to his top ranking spot in men’s tennis.
“It’s inevitable at some stage, when you’ve won 16 slams and you’ve broken every record, that maybe you lose that will at certain times. I think Federer is going to win a couple more majors but you won’t see him dominate the way he has before,” said John McEnroe, the former tennis pro, and seven time Grand Slam title winner.
Nadal has had a highly successful season this year, winning both the French Open and Wimbledon consecutively for the second time in his career. And at this year’s Wimbledon tournament, he only needed two hours and 13 minutes to defeat Tomas Berdych (the same player who managed to knock out Federer) to reclaim the title.
Nadal, who has also won the Australian and French Open titles, is now aiming to become the seventh man to land all four Majors.
"For sure, I'm going to keep working to try to be in the US Open and ready to try to win," said Nadal.
"The US Open is going to be one of my goals for the rest of my career. I'm very happy to win Wimbledon. We are going to think about the US Open in one month. Right now we just relax and enjoy the beach, fishing, golf, friends, party and Mallorca."
Is the World No. 1 capable of winning another Grand Slam this year? Probably, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens in this year's US Open, which begins on August 30th.
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