Rafael Nadal of Spain at the 2020 Australian Open Tennis Championship Day 10 Match at Melbourne Park Tennis Centre, Melbourne, Australia. 29 Jan 2020. (©Andy Cheung/ArcK Images/arckimages.com/UK Tennis Magazine/International Sports Fotos)
Tennis great Jim Courier believes Rafa Nadal may have played the US Open if the French Open had come before the Flushing Meadows classic.
“We would love to see Rafael Nadal here, I’m not gonna be diplomatic about this,” Courier said.
“I mean as the defending champion you wanna see him there. But it’s understandable given how they have had to compress the season and put the French Open now just a couple weeks after this Cincinnati-US Open series.
“I think if Roland Garros had been in front of the US Open he would have undoubtedly played the US Open but I just think this is a function of the season getting compressed into a very short pocket and him being cautious.
“I mean as the defending champion you wanna see him there. But it’s understandable given how they have had to compress the season and put the French Open now just a couple weeks after this Cincinnati-US Open series.”
Courier said he didn’t believe think Nadal’s concern was virus-related.
“It’s his physical ability to withstand the rigours of this restart having not played a tournament now since February,” he said.
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