Tennis News: Rafael Nadal and Coco Gauff

Men's tennis seems to be clearly in a transition from excellent younger players taking over for aging greats. Novak Djokovic appears to be struggling through 2024 and has not won a tournament yet. In fact, he has not made a final. Rafael Nadal missed most of 2023 with a hip injury but has only played in one tournament in 2024 so far as well.

Neither player will be participating in the next Masters 1000 as Nadal was always unlikely to play and Djokovic withdrew from the event this week. We do not know when the Serb will play next or how much longer he will keep playing. He hasn't struggled greatly with injuries, but he has certainly digressed for some reason early in the season.

At least with Nadal, tennis fans do know his next scheduled tournament. The entry list for the Monte Carlo Masters was released this week and Nadal's name is on the list. This makes sense as Monte Carlo is a clay court event and that is Nadal's best surface. Plus, the tournament ultimately works as a warm-up event for the French Open in late May.

Rafael Nadal is on the entry list and Coco Gauff wants to keep playing

Monte Carlo is a Masters 1000 event that follows Indian Wells and the Miami Open. Nadal did not play in either of those. This might indicate that Nadal is definitely making 2024 his final year playing and that he is focusing more on the French Open, where he is a 14-time champion, and the Summer Olympics which will be held beginning in late July and the tennis part will also be held at Roland Garros just as the French Open is.

In other news relating to a top player, Coco Gauff, the WTA No. 3, had to address a ridiculous question at Indian Wells this week. One must also remember she literally just turned 20 years old. Still, during a press conference after a match at Indian Wells, a reporter asked Gauff about any future plans of getting married and having children. Again, Gauff just turned 20 during the course of Indian Wells.

Gauff still gave a great answer when she said, "I haven't thought about it to this point. Yeah, I mean, I'm not trying to do anything, I'm not trying to get married or anything like that! Definitely no kids. Yeah, just tennis right now and we'll see where life takes me off the court."

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