Tennis fans cast doubts over Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios after US Open

Novak Djokovic says he will 'keep going' after US Open win

Tennis fans have expressed doubts about both Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios as the pair recover from injury. Neither played the US Open, 2023’s final Grand Slam, which was won by Novak Djokovic in New York.

Djokovic tasted Flushing Meadows glory for the fourth time in his career after beating Daniil Medvedev in straight sets. But Nadal and Kyrgios had to watch from home as the Serb clinched a 24th Grand Slam. The Spaniard hasn’t played since January and underwent hip surgery earlier in the year.

Aussie Kyrgios has also been dogged by injuries. He needed surgery on a knee problem earlier this year and missed the Australian Open and French Open before a wrist injury ruled him out of Wimbledon and the US Open.

Nadal is now ranked 239th in the world while Kyrgios is way down in No 469. That’s despite him contesting the first Grand Slam final of his career just last year when he lost to Djokovic despite winning the first set on Centre Court at the All England Club.

And in a recent poll, Express Sport’s readers cast doubt over Kyrgios over playing in the final of another Slam. Seventy nine per cent of 21,505 voters said Kyrgios will not contest a showpiece match of a major again, although 21 per cent retained faith that he will get another shot at winning one of tennis’ main four tournaments.

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Similarly, concerns were expressed for Nadal, who has admitted 2024 will be his last season on the ATP Tour. The retiring 37-year-old, a 22-time Slam champion, is planning to “say goodbye to all the tournaments that have been important to me” in an emotional farewell.

They will include the French Open where Nadal is an astonishing 14-time title-winner. But despite the ‘King of Clay’ having an imperious 112-3 record at Roland Garros, a huge 74 per cent of voters think he has won his last Slam already.

Just 26 per cent think he will win a 23rd before he puts down his racket for the final time. Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz will be two of the main threats on the clay-court major with the former having defeated Casper Ruud in this year’s final.

Djokovic played in all four major finals in 2023 and has won 75 per cent of a season’s Slams for the third time in his career. His coach Goran Ivanisevic says the 36-year-old is far from done.

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“He’s planning to play Olympic Games in Los Angeles. When is this, 2028? You know what’s going in his head. It’s like 24 hours something to achieve. I’m not surprised. He just enjoying, he likes the challenges. Like you ask me 25, yeah, if he wins 25, he’s going to think, If I win 25, why not 26? It’s always one more, something more.”

Djokovic himself said: “I don’t put any number right now in my mind on how many Slams I want to win until the end of my career. I don’t really have any number. I’ll continue to prioritise them as my most important tournaments and where I want to play the best tennis.

“So that will not change. That will stay the same in the next season or I don’t know how many more seasons I have in my legs. So let’s see. Knowing that I play at such a high level still and I win the biggest tournaments in this sport, yeah, I don’t want to get rid of this sport or I don’t want to leave this sport if I’m still at the top, if I’m still playing the way I’m playing.”

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