Rafa out of US Open

Sorry that I'm releasing this news late. It's taken me a while to get my head around this. Today at 2pm GMT, Rafa announced via Facebook his decision to withdraw from the US Open 2014. The full statement is below.

I am very sorry to announce I won’t be able to play at this year’s US Open a tournament on which I’ve played 3 consecutive finals in my last participations. I am sure you understand that it is a very tough moment for me since it is a tournament I love and where I have great memories from fans, the night matches, so many things… Not much more I can do right now, other than accept the situation and, as always in my case, work hard in order to be able to compete at the highest level once I am back.

The news is obviously very disappointing for Rafa fans. However, I had a feeling that this news was coming. First he postponed the decision further, which I presume was due to unsatisfactory test results, and then he was still practicing with a splint even today. 

No Rafa = No tennis.

The news was not a shock, but it still hit me harder than I though it would. The North American hard court masters withdrawals were bad enough, but having to withdraw from the USO was devastating. Rafa will lose 2,000 points as he was defending champion.

This affects the rankings. Over the last 3 tournaments, Rafa was defending champion in all of them, so he will lose 4,000 points overall. This closes the gap between Rafa and Roger. 

The number 1 priority is health, of course. I do not want him playing until he is pain free, and he doesn't want to either. It's been a very unlucky year, first we had the issue with the back at the start of the year. Then, around RG and Wimbledon, his health was getting to a point where it wasn't an issue. All of a sudden the wrist injury occurred. 

The return has not yet been assigned a date, the only thing we can go by is 'soon'. I am confident that he will return for the Asian Hardcourt Swing. However, we cannot predict. I'm not saying that this injury is on the same scale as the knee, but its the same kind of issue. The recovery looks quick at first but there are complications, and more tournaments can get cancelled as time goes on. Rafa is still practising hard, so i doubt the injury layoff will be that long. 

Rafans reacted today, and the feeling is mutual. We are all disappointed, but we agree that health is the most important thing. 

For me personally this is disappointing because I am due to fly out to NYC this weekend. Unfortunately I will not be visiting the Open, but I did my research, and it turns out Rafa and I would be staying in the same hotel (well, very likely to be.) A selfish part of me is disappointed about that, but the whole picture shows that it is not the thing to focus on. 

We now have to wait for Rafa's return… once again. We know that injury makes Rafa stronger, 2013 anyone? The back injury earlier this year was an exception, but that is likely because it occurred in the middle of a slam final… 

Keep strong Rafans, its not an easy time for us, but together we will support each other and come through it stronger, just like Rafa.

Love to you all. 

Grace x

@rafanadaladdict