Terrible news for the tennis community. Unfortunately this was not a big surprise after a recent courtside interview where Rafa said he was not sure about his presence at the US Open.
Yesterday Rafa came out with a tweet saying “I am very sad to announce that I am not ready to play the US Open in NY, thanks to my fans for their support and especially, the New Yorkers.”
Then the announce came also via Facebook “I am very sad to announce that I am still not ready to play ad have to withdraw from this year’s US Open in NYC. I am sorry since I always found great crowds and great support, but I have to continue with my recuperation and preparation to be ready to play in the right conditions. I want to say hi and thanks to all the fans in particular to the new yorkers. I’ll miss you all this year at the Open!”
Not much to say, but this unjury is becoming a bit scary. Rafa played 15 of the last 16 slams. He didn’t play Wimbledon in 2009 after being defeated by Soderling at the Roland Garros claiming he was struggling with his knee. Just later it admitted it wasn’t only about his knee, as he had to deal with some familiar problems. This time… nobody really knows, but skipping the Olympics (where he was meant to be the flag bearer), Toronto, Cincinnati and the US Open… it is not normal.
The other Big 3 are also concerned about the situation. Federer has already expressed his sympathy for Rafa.
”It’s obviously a shame. I like Rafa a lot as a friend,” Murray said ”Yeah, I’m disappointed for him. But I think for tennis and also a major competition, it’s a huge benefit when you have the top players playing.
”It’s obviously tough for him. He’s had trouble with his knees in the past. So I hope he can rest, he doesn’t come back too early, and gets them fixed so he can get back to playing his best tennis.”
”My excitement is always the same when I am approaching any Grand Slam. Obviously it’s the biggest tournaments we have in sport,” Djokovic. ”Yes, the fact is that tennis is going to lose a little bit because of Rafa not being there and playing, because he’s somebody that has made a history of this sport. We all know how good he is and how popular he is.”
We hope he will be back soon.
