‘Rafa would want him to be here’ – Rafael Nadal will miss Novak Djokovic at US Open, says Dan Evans

Rafael Nadal “would want” Novak Djokovic to be challenging him at the US Open if he could, believes Britain’s Dan Evans.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that visitors to the US still need to be vaccinated if they are foreign nationals, ruling the Serbian out of the tournament. He also had to miss the Australian Open following a nightmare stay in the country at the start of the year.

“Obviously, there is a rule, but I think there can be unvaccinated players playing in the tournament. That is my understanding – if you are American, you can be unvaccinated.

“I think the bottom line is that he would add something to this tournament. I don’t know the chats they had with the US, but I think it would have been nice to see him here.”

Evans added that he thinks Nadal would have welcomed the presence of his great rival at the final Grand Slam of the season, rather than him being happy that the player who is one Grand Slam singles title behind him is not competing.

“I think people like Rafa would want him to be here so whoever does win the tournament, has won the tournament in the best possible way,” Evans said.

Nadal confirmed Evans’ view at his pre-tournament press conference: “From my personal perspective, it is very sad news.

“It’s always a shame when the best players of the world are not able to play a tournament because of injuries or because of different reasons.

“In this case, not having one of the best players of the history in the draw of Grand Slam is always an important miss.

“As I said, it’s tough for the fans, tough for the tournament. In my opinion, tough for the players, too, because we want to have the best field possible.

“But on the other hand, I repeat what I said plenty of times: the sport in some ways is bigger than any player.”

Djokovic has triumphed at Flushing Meadows on three occasions and almost completed a calendar Grand Slam in New York last year before he lost to Daniil Medvedev in the showpiece final.

Evans, the 22nd seed, takes on Jiri Vesely in his opening match in New York, while second seed Nadal will face Rinky Hijikata on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

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