{"id":296137,"date":"2023-12-06T15:24:04","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T15:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=296137"},"modified":"2023-12-06T15:24:04","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T15:24:04","slug":"rafael-nadal-exhibitions-fed-up-tennis-rival-as-novak-djokovic-warning-shot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/tennis\/rafael-nadal-exhibitions-fed-up-tennis-rival-as-novak-djokovic-warning-shot\/","title":{"rendered":"Rafael Nadal exhibitions ‘f***ed up’ tennis rival as Novak Djokovic warning shot"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Speaking on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast (as per Tennis365), Stubbs said: \u201cWhat 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\u2019s like your idol and you want to go and you probably get paid millions of dollars to go do all of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you know then he didn\u2019t play after that and then he was like \u2018Oh my god, I\u2019m gonna go to the tournament and I\u2019m gonna play at the Australian Open\u2019. It\u2019s like he needed a break.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Dude you got to pick your schedule a little bit better\u2019, 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.<\/p>\n

Don’t miss… <\/strong>
Emma Raducanu shares suffering as Brit begins ramping up return preparations[INSIGHT] <\/strong>
Rafael Nadal urged to find Roger Federer trait to ensure successful comeback[VERDICT] <\/strong>
Boris Becker opens up on ‘disappointment’ with Alexander Zverev in cutting rant[REACTION] <\/strong><\/p>\n