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Who’s out – What we know so far about the ATP’s August return

By Brandon Daniels

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 02: Rafael Nadal of Spain waves to the crowd as he leaves the court after beating Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia in the third round of the US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre on September 02, 2018 in New York City, United States. (Photo by TPN/Getty Images)"n"n
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 02: Rafael Nadal of Spain waves to the crowd as he leaves the court after beating Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia in the third round of the US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre on September 02, 2018 in New York City, United States. (Photo by TPN/Getty Images)"n"n /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 08: Rafael Nadal of Spain walks on court before his Men’s Singles final match against Daniil Medvedev of Russia on day fourteen of the 2019 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 08, 2019 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 08: Rafael Nadal of Spain walks on court before his Men’s Singles final match against Daniil Medvedev of Russia on day fourteen of the 2019 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 08, 2019 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) /

US Open – Djokovic, Nadal both likely to skip

The US Open, amidst the major shuffling of the upcoming schedule, is staying put in its usual timeframe (August 31st-September 13th). This wouldn’t be a big deal, except for the two main problems that surround the event:

  1. The insanely packed schedule with a lack of tuneups
  2. COVID-19 situation in the United States is a huge risk for international players to take

To begin with the schedule, the US Open typically fell after five hard-court tuneups: Atlanta Open, Rogers Cup (Toronto), Western and Southern Open (DC), Western & Southern Open (Cincinnati), and the Winston-Salem Open.

2020 is going to be very different in comparison. Instead of five tuneup events, only two will be held prior to the August 31st US Open start. August 14th-21st is the Citi Open and immediately following that is the Western & Southern Open (22nd-30th), which will be played in Flushing Meadows instead of its usual venue.

This is an incredibly packed month. Players want to play in as many major tournaments as possible. It’s a more competitive field with bigger payouts. Wins in those events can also be a huge advantage for Grand Slam play.

The surplus of events is looking like it’s set to turn the US Open into the first major championship without the Big 3 since the 1999 Australian Open. While Djokovic has been seen practicing on hard courts recently, he’s still unsure on his participation due to his commitment to playing in all three of the major clay tournaments.

"“I still don’t know if I will play at the US Open. I certainly don’t play Washington, Cincinnati in the plan. Participation in Garros is safe for now, and Madrid and Rome are also planned,” Djokovic said recently to Zurnal."

Nadal, on the other hand, looks to be prepping for his usual domination on clay and will subsequentially not be defending his 2019 US Open title. Nadal was recently seen practicing hard on clay, and with the hard-court season only a month away, it looks like the World #2 will be aiming for his 13th Roland Garros title instead of his 4th in New York.

This came alongside Madrid Open tournament director Feliciano Lopez’s confirmation that Nadal will be playing the tournament in September.

"“I talked to my friend Rafael Nadal and he has confirmed his participation in Madrid next September,” Lopez confirmed last week."

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