Rafael Nadal has not contested a match on tour since falling in the second round of Wimbledon 2012 to Lukas Rosol. the Spaniard's hiatus has seen him miss the London Olympics, last week’s Toronto Masters, and the currently running Cincinnati Masters. Now Rafael Nadal will miss the 2012 US Open from Flushing Meadows, a tournament that starts later this month.
According to a recent article posted at the ATP website:
“World No. 3 Rafael Nadal has been forced to withdraw from the upcoming US Open due to a knee injury.”
Nadal has done exceptionally well at the US Open in recent seasons. In 2010 he won the title outright and in 2011 he fell to Novak Djokovic in the final. Nadal missing the American hard court slam this season will dilute the field of talent in the men’s singles draw quite significantly.
Nadal’s absence will also certainly affect his ranking over the next year. Tournament for tournament, it’s the slams that affect the rankings on tour most drastically. In making the final last season, the Spaniard earned 1200 ranking points and those will drop off his current total with no replacement points coming in when the rankings are updated post-US Open.
Nadal is not likely to be caught in the rankings by David Ferrer after Flushing Meadows but, Ferrer will still likely benefit from Nadal’s withdrawal. The World No. 5 now holds a ranking that implies a top four seeding at Flushing Meadows. That seeding would mean that the Spaniard could not face anyone ranked higher than himself until at least the semifinals.
Andy Murray is a player that could capitalize on the weaker field of talent. Nadal is a player that has stood in Murray’s way before in grand slam tournaments before. With strong enough results in Cincinnati and New York, Murray could realistically catch Nadal for the World No. 3 ranking soon.
You also have to wonder if Juan Martin del Potro, a player currently ranked 9th in the world, will be making a bigger dent in his draw at the US Open this season than he did last year. Delpo has won the US Open before and he seems to be getting closer and closer to his best tennis again. The Argentine is more prone to fatigue than other top players but a spot in the semifinals might be his if he gets the right draw.
The draw will be released on Thursday, August 23rd and seeds are not official at this time. However Ferrer should have his own quarter and it will be where most players outside of the top three that have ambitions for the semifinals will be hoping to be placed. Not only that but the top two seeds at Flushing Meadows, who will almost certainly be Djokovic and Roger Federer, will both certainly be hoping for a semifinal against Ferrer instead of Murray.
Information Courtesy of:
ATPWorldTour.com
"Nadal Forced to Withdraw from US Open"
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/08/Features/US-Open-Nadal-Forced-To-Withdraw.aspx
Written by ATP Staff