Navratilova: With Nadal & Federer not being there, Djokovic would be a big favorite

• Tennis News
• Novak Djokovic

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova says that World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will be the big favourite on the men's side for the US Open Grand Slam tournament which gets underway later this month in New York and that Rafael Nadal made the right choice by not coming to New York.

Navratilova is one of the top tennis commentators in the game today and is considered by many to be among the greatest tennis players of all time in tennis history.

Martina Navratilova says Novak Djokovic would be the big favourite for the US Open

According to Forbes magazine, Navratilova says, "Being Rafa, being the age he is, how difficult it is to travel, his best chance to win the French Open is by not coming to New York.

I would have been surprised had he played actually”. Many tennis analysts had said that Nadal may skip the US Open and try to focus his energies on winning a record-extending 13th Roland Garros title. This year, due to the calendar changes, the French Open was moved from May to September and is being held only two weeks after the US Open tournament.

The Spaniard has been seen training on clay courts in recent weeks at his academy. While Nadal has decided not to compete due to concerns around travelling amid the global health situation, Roger Federer has said that he would not compete again in 2020 due to his knee injury.

With two of the Big Three not playing, Navratilova says that Djokovic would be the big favourite for the tournament. “Yeah, he would be the favorite anyway, as the No. 1 player in the world. Now with both Rafa and Roger not being there, he would be a big favorite I would think”.

The US Open Grand Slam tournament begins in New York on August 31st. Novak Djokovic has returned to the tour this week at the Western & Southern Open - and won his first singles match on Monday. The Serbian is staying in a private residence during his time in New York.

He has won 17 Grand Slam singles titles in his career so far and a win in New York would take his tally to 18 - Federer leads the all-time list of Grand Slam titles in men's tennis history with 20 Grand Slam titles while Nadal is in second place with 19 Grand Slam titles.