Rafael Nadal’s road to 23rd Grand Slam opens up after being handed an easy draw at the 2022 US Open

Rafael Nadal’s road to 23rd Grand Slam opens up after being handed an easy draw at the 2022 US Open

Rafael Nadal

World No. 3 Rafael Nadal will be fighting for his 5th US Open title at the 2022 US Open and eyeing his third major of the season having clinched the titles in Australia and France earlier this year. He was on course for the title at Wimbledon as well but an untimely injury to his abdomen saw him withdraw hours before his semi-final bout.

Recharged and fresh, Nadal is already in New York and was part of the charity event to help Ukraine where he played Doubles with Iga Swiatek against the pair of John McEnroe and Coco Gauff. With no points to drop, Nadal doesn’t have any pressure and can entirely focus on winning the Grand Slam title which will take him two majors ahead of Novak Djokovic and three ahead of Roger Federer as both his rivals won’t be playing at the Grand Slam this year.

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Rafael Nadal likely to take on seeded players right from the 3rd round

Rafael Nadal after winning the US Open 2019 title
Rafael Nadal after winning the US Open 2019 title

While Nadal lost in the 2nd round at the 2022 Cincinnati Masters to eventual champion Borna Coric, the Spaniard is expected to perform better. Rafa, the 2nd seed, starts his campaign in New York against wildcard entrant Rinky Hijikata and should easily breeze past the Australian. Next up for the Spaniard could be Russian Aslan Karatsev, a good player on hardcourts but he has struggled massively this season making things slightly easy for Rafa.

The 3rd round could see Rafa take on 32nd seed Miomir Kecmanovic followed by an encounter with Argentine dynamite Diego Schwartzman who has been handed the 14th seed at the Grand Slam this year. Looking at these rounds, one can easily expect Rafa to cruise into the quarter-finals. The last-8 could see Rafa meet fellow left-hander Cameron Norrie, the 7th seed Brit who can certainly make things difficult for Nadal and will look to avenge his loss to the Spaniard in Acapulco earlier this season.

The semi-finals could see an all-Spanish clash between Rafa and his successor, the 3rd seeded Carlos Alcaraz who had made his way to the quarter-finals last year but had to retire mid-match due to an unfortunate injury. Provided, Rafa defeats the young gun, defending champion and top seed Daniil Medvedev will await Rafa in the finals in what will be a repeat of the 2019 US Open and 2022 Australian Open finals, both won by Rafa making the Russian highly desperate for revenge.

Rafael Nadal’s path to the US Open title based on seeding

  • R1: Rinky Hijikata
  • R2: Aslan Karatsev
  • R3: Miomir Kecmanovic
  • R4: Diego Schwartzman
  • QF: Cameron Norrie
  • SF: Carlos Alcaraz
  • F: Daniil Medvedev

Also Read: US Open 2022: Women’s Singles Draw Preview and Prediction

Also Read: US Open 2022: Men’s Singles Draw Preview and Prediction