Rafael Nadal exhibitions ‘f***ed up’ tennis rival as Novak Djokovic warning shot
Casper Rudd should have taken a leaf out of Novak Djokovic’s book by playing less tennis during the off-season in a bid to produce more sustained success. That’s the view of former doubles world No. 1 Rennae Stubbs, who believes that the Serbian’s refusal to have the Covid vaccine has benefited him in the long term “giving him longevity” that has led to more Grand Slam titles.
Djokovic missed the Australian Open and US Open in 2022 as it was mandatory to have received the vaccine to enter both countries at the time. He was also forced to sit out prestigious Masters 1000 events at Indian Wells and Miami before border restrictions were lifted.
But on his return to full action this season, the all-time great has won three out of four majors and was runner-up in the other, before finishing his outstanding season as ATP Finals winner and world No. 1.
In stark contrast, Rudd, who reached world No. 2 in September last year, has only won one title on tour all season and disappointed at three of the Slams, dropping to 11th in the world rankings. The 24-year-old did reach the final of the French Open but was beaten by Djokovic.
Tennis commentator and analyst Stubbs, who is a former coach of Serena Williams, believes that the clue to the two players’ vastly different fortunes lies in their pre-season preparation.
Speaking on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast (as per Tennis365), Stubbs said: “What Casper Ruud did, I think that really f****d him up. Last year when he kept playing those [exhibitions] with [Rafael] Nadal like fine, he’s like your idol and you want to go and you probably get paid millions of dollars to go do all of that.
“But you know then he didn’t play after that and then he was like ‘Oh my god, I’m gonna go to the tournament and I’m gonna play at the Australian Open’. It’s like he needed a break.
“I’m like, ‘Dude you got to pick your schedule a little bit better’, which is why I think Novak, for example, has been able to dominate the last few years. I mean listen, the pandemic was not a friend to him.
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“Let’s face it, vaccines and all and not being able to play like three or four Grand Slams that he should have played and probably would have won, but you know what I think it’s given him longevity.
“Even more longevity because he actually was resting his body for a period of that time. So I think it randomly has helped him. I’m sure he’d probably like to have played.”
Djokovic won the Australian Open and French Open but was pegged back at Wimbledon, where he lost a five-set thriller to Carlos Alcaraz. But the Serbian was soon back to his best, winning the US Open against Daniil Medvedev before seeing off Jannik Sinner at the ATP Finals.
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