John McEnroe believes there is no ‘definitive’ reason behind Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek’s early exit from Australian Open 2023
Top seeds, Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek faced early round exits from the Australian Open 2023.
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Rafael Nadal, Iga Swiatek
The first Grand Slam of the year is turning into a nightmare for the top-seeded players. The likes of Rafael Nadal, Casper Ruud, Iga Swiatek, and Ons Jabeur have faced heavy defeats in the opening rounds. This is the first time in Open Era that the top two seeds in Men’s and Women’s singles have failed to reach the quarterfinals.
Former American tennis player, John McEnroe believes that there is no definitive reason behind the early exit of some title contenders. He opines that the scheduling of the Australian Open might have something to do in terms of the preparation, given that it is the first marquee event of the year.
John McEnroe believes that since the Holiday period in late December occurs just a couple of weeks before the Australian Open, it impacts the players’ preparation in one way or the other.
“Ever since Australia changed its date to the first event, players have been trying to figure out the best way to maximise their preparation,” McEnroe told Eurosport.
“It’s difficult to know [what that is]. It seems that the general attitude is to go out there two to four weeks before. If you do something like that, it impacts what you’re doing over the Christmas holidays, it impacts what you’re doing over New Year’s. It’s a tough commitment. There’s no definite reason this [the upsets] has happened,” he added.
“Grand Slams are unpredictable and that’s also what makes them great”: John McEnroe
Rafael Nadal injured himself during the latter stages of the second set in his second-round encounter against Mackenzie McDonald. This basically restricted his mobility in the final set, leading up to a straight sets defeat for the Spaniard. Meanwhile, the top seed in the women’s section, Iga Swiatek was all over the place in her fourth-round loss against Elena Rybakina.
“Rafa got hurt, Iga seems emotionally in a different place, not as settled as she was. Ruud, maybe the pressure got to him or he played too many exhibitions. You can look at what each individual player has done and come up with what you think is the answer, but at the end of the day, you don’t know,” said McEnroe.
John McEnroe believes that the Grand Slam events are unpredictable, and that is what makes them stand out from the regular tournaments. The tennis legend added that the younger generation getting into the scheme of things makes things a little more interesting. Spanish tennis sensation, Carlos Alcaraz claimed the US Open 2022 title, whereas, 19-year-old Holger Rune is also rising up the ranks pretty quickly.
“That’s the thing about Grand Slam events,” he said. “They are unpredictable and that’s also what makes them great in a way, but people like to throw out these stats like, ‘Wow, the first time since the top two seeds have not made it.”
“The good news is that I think we are going to see a new injection of fresh blood and new faces, which ultimately will be good for the game. Carlos Alcaraz, he’s been an unbelievable breath of fresh air, hopefully, he’ll be back soon. Holger Rune is only 19 years old,” added the American.
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Nirmit Mehta
(2425 Articles Published)