NEW YORK, United States —
Rafael Nadal opens
his bid for a 23rd Grand Slam title at the US Open on Tuesday as world number
one Iga Swiatek and defending champion Emma Raducanu headline the women’s draw.
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After the searing emotion of Monday’s salute to
Serena Williams, the Open was set to return to something like normal service as
action on the court took center stage.
Nadal launches his latest Grand Slam title campaign
in Tuesday’s night session, where he faces unheralded Australian
Rinky Hijikata at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The second-seeded Spaniard is chasing a fifth
victory in New York to go along with titles won in 2010, 2013, 2017, and 2019.
The 36-year-old has already won the Australian Open
and French Open titles this season, but was forced to withdraw before his
Wimbledon semi-final with an abdominal injury.
Since that curtailed Wimbledon campaign, Nadal has
played just once — a first-up loss to Borna Coric in Cincinnati earlier this
month.
That has inevitably led to questions about whether
Nadal’s creaking body can stand up to the punishing demands of a two-week
campaign at Flushing Meadows.
Nadal acknowledged those concerns in a
pre-tournament press conference, revealing that he had deliberately held
himself back in Cincinnati to protect his injury.
“I take it very easy in the Cincinnati, too, in the
practices. The match, I try my best without putting all the effort there on the
serve,” Nadal said.
“I hope to be ready for the action. That’s the only
thing that I can say.”
Raducanu, Swiatek in action
Injury concerns have also
flared for Britain’s reigning champion Raducanu in the women’s draw.
The 19-year-old created a sensation last year when
she emerged from qualifying to sweep to the title, the first qualifier ever to
win a Grand Slam title.
However Raducanu has struggled to build on that
success this season, suffering a trio of second-round exits at the
Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon.
Raducanu, who faces French veteran Alize Cornet in
Tuesday’s first round in a night match, was seen tearfully complaining about a
problem with her right hand during practice last week but later brushed off the
incident, insisting she was ready to defend her title.
“It’s just one of those weird days where you feel a
bit like nothing ... I don’t know. You just feel a bit out of it,” she said.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, women’s world number one and
top seed Swiatek faces Jasmine Paolini in her opening game.
The 21-year-old two-time French Open champion was
invincible during the early part of the season, going on a remarkable 37-match
winning streak that netted six titles in a row, including her second Roland
Garros crown.
But she has never been further than the fourth round
in three previous appearances at the US Open, and freely admits that New York
is not her preferred environment.
“I wouldn’t choose it as a place to live because I’m
more of a person that needs a calm place with the proper environment to rest,”
Swiatek said on the eve of the tournament.
“New York is kind of always alive. That’s not for sure my
place. But, you know, the tournament is great. It’s a totally different
atmosphere than any other tournament.”
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