Tennis legends in trouble.
The players who have dominated the world rankings for the past decade and refused to let anyone into their exclusive club are in trouble. Rafael Nadal is planning to participate in the 2022 Australian Open. However, treatment for his injured leg and systematic rehabilitation will not allow him to take to the competition courts until December at the earliest, so his playing time will be more than half a year. Roger Federer has already undergone two knee surgeries and is also on a playing hiatus after withdrawing from Roland Garros and being knocked out of Wimbledon in the quarterfinals after losing a duel with Hungary's Hurkacz. He is currently even leaving his position in the world's elite ten. Despite being thirty-eight years old, he does not want to end his tennis career just yet. The current clear world number one in men's tennis, Novak Djokovic, has a different problem. He is not going to accept the contemplated mandatory vaccination against Covid-19, which should be valid for participation in the first Grand Slam next year. The Australians will not grant entry visas into the country to the unvaccinated, without exception. Another former world No. 1, Andy Murray, is currently out of the Paris 1,000 tournament in the first round after failing to convert seven match points against Dominic Koepfer. Andy has struggled to return to the top in recent months, but after a long hiatus, he is up against a number of great players trying to fill the slowly vacating spots in the Top Ten. Names like Sinner, Ruud, Karacev and Norrie, who could all appear on the Tournament of Champions (Turin) roster, would probably have been unheard of a year ago.
photo: Casper Ruud
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