U.S. Open: Despite rapid decline, Nadal headlines Day 1
NEW YORK – As Rafael Nadal racked up 14 Grand Slam titles in his mid 20s, it seemed it wasn't a question of if but when the Spaniard would threaten Roger Federer's record 17 titles. Surely he'd be there by his 30th birthday.
Instead, at 29, Rafa enters the final major of 2015 just hoping to prove he's still relevant. He has yet to reach a Grand Slam sem
ifinal this year, a tumultuous season in which he battled knee and wrist injuries and saw his ranking drop to No. 10, its lowest point in a decade. He has lost more matches this year (14) than he did in all of 2014 (11), or in 2012 and 2013 combined (13).
And yet, he has top billing on Day 1. While 2014 champion Marin Cilic starts his title defense on Louis Armstrong, Nadal will play the second night match on Arthur Ashe. This is the first time the defending champ isn't playing his first-round match on Ashe since 2000.
It's a show of respect for two-time champion Nadal, and an indication that the USTA realizes that despite being seeded eighth, Rafa still puts on a show.
That's one possibility. Another is that the USTA knows this could be Rafa's only match of the tournament. He'll play Borna Coric, a 19-year-old from Croatia who defeated Rafa in straight sets in their only previous meeting.
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"He's one of the players that is the future of our sport, so it's a tough one," Nadal said Saturday. "But I'm playing well."
Playing under the lights at Ashe will be new to Coric. That could give Nadal an edge. But if ever there was a year that Nadal could go down in the first round in New York, this is it. And even if he makes a miraculous return to form and makes it to his first Grand Slam semifinal of the year, he'd have to knock out No. 1 Novak Djokovic to make it to the final round.
It's much more likely that regardless of how Nadal's two weeks play out, Djokovic will be the one challenging for the title, his 10th overall and third of the year. Djokovic is third up on Ashe, the final match of the day session.
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Danielle Elliot is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Find her on Twitter and Facebook.
