Nadal missed 2 1/2 months because of a problem with the tendon sheath in his wrist, pulling out of the French Open before the third round, then skipping Wimbledon altogether.
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“I know she’s a good player”. Friday was the first time either had discussed the health problems that stymied them in Rio de Janeiro and forced them to withdraw from the hard-court warmup at Cincinnati.
Rafael Nadal insists his wrist injury is slowly improving as he prepares to face Denis Istomin in the US Open first round.
“I’ve played a lot of tennis and played a lot of matches”.
After an early defeat at Wimbledon, Djokovic suffered his wrist injury before the Rio Olympics, where he was ousted in round one.
“I’m just hoping that Monday when the tournament starts I’ll be able to get as close to the maximum of executing my backhand shot as possible”, said Djokovic, who sounded a bit more optimistic than Williams Friday.
“There’s a lot at stake for her, to break Steffi in so many different ways”, said Chris Evert, an 18-time grand slam champion, speaking on behalf of espn.co.uk.
“I’d imagine I’d be playing at this level for three, four more years, max”, said Murray, the holder of three Grand Slam titles. “Hopefully just every day I will keep going higher”.
After Djokovic was upset in the third round of Wimbledon by 41st-ranked Sam Querrey, he was asked if he was 100 percent healthy, replying “not really” but not going into details. “But it’s not the place and time to talk about it”. He wouldn’t elaborate other than to say that now “everything is fine”. The two-time U.S. Open champ – a quarterfinalist past year – faces Ukraine’s Kateryna Kozlova first up.
Murray, in the opposite half of the draw to the 12-time grand slam victor, does not face Lukas Rosol until Tuesday and the Scot has downplayed the effect his rival’s injury could have on his own chances. Now he can start to hit his normal forehand again, but it “still needs time to feel that I am more confident in my wrist”.
The No. 1-seeded Djokovic, who defeated Nadal in the 2011 U.S. Open final and Roger Federer for last year’s title, said his wrist began bothering him shortly before the start of the Rio Games, where he lost in the first round. Making two tournaments, Australia, Wimbledon.
Defending champion Djokovic and fellow two-time victor Nadal come into the season’s final Grand Slam with injury concerns. The first big watershed was the London Olympics followed by the US Open win in 2012.
Nadal is a potential semifinal opponent for Djokovic, the defending champ, while Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka are in the other half of the bracket.
Her older sister Venus – one of Keys’ childhood idols – is seeded sixth.
Vinci stunned Serena Williams in the semi-finals in 2015 before losing the championship match to Italian compatriot Flavia Pennetta who retired in the immediate aftermath of her first and only Grand Slam win.
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Olympic silver medalist Juan Martin del Potro could face 19th-seeded American Steve Johnson in the second round.
