In a few days, the long-awaited edition of Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam of the year, will begin. It will be a special edition, with several absences and the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian tennis players from the tournament (due to the war between Russia and Ukraine).
The decision of the ATP to withdraw the points means that the tennis players will play purely and simply for the economic aspect and not to improve their ranking, in addition to the glory of this prestigious event. Of course, there are those who aspire to make history, to win the tournament, and for them, therefore, there will be no change, but it will be different for those tennis players whose objective was only to get through a few rounds and improve their ranking.
World number one Daniil Medvedev will be absent as a Russian and the number one seed is defending champion Novak Djokovic. With Alexander Zverev out due to injury, it is important that the number two seed is Rafael Nadal of Spain and therefore even before the draw we are aware that the two legends will only meet in the final.
It’s crucial for Matteo Berrettini to be in the top eight seeds, so he can’t collide with The Big Three before the quarter-finals. Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Sonego are also among the top seeds in the men’s tournament.
There are many tennis players outside the first seeds to avoid: the first name can only be Nick Kyrgios, among the best tennis players in the world on the surface. Britain’s Andy Murray is also dangerous: Andy’s physical condition is not the best, but in a single match he can be dangerous for anyone.
Amritraj pays tribute to Nadal
Speaking to the Tennis Channel recently, former American tennis player Prakash Amritraj heaped praise on the 36-year-old and asked fans to enjoy watching him while he was still around. “This footage (Nadal practicing) of Rafael Nadal, it’s just something that puts a smile on everyone’s face.
The guy is such an inspiration. He is still playing unbelievable tennis, 14th French Open, going for a Calendar Slam this year at this age is absolutely mind-boggling. We don’t know how many opportunities we’re going to get to watch him on the court.
So now, I think every single time he steps on the court, it’s a true event. It’s very special that we’re going to see him at Wimbledon,” Amritraj said. “Hopefully the grass is a little bit softer on his foot, maybe the points are a little bit shorter.
He is one of the guys who has a tremendous amount of experience which not a lot of other people have. He’s a very underrated volleyer, he can serve and volley quite well, uses that backhand slice well. So perhaps someone not everyone’s thinking of as a favorite for Wimbledon, but who knows? He’s won the thing twice. Why not a third? He has done everything else impossible in this sport,” said Amritraj.
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