A world without Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer: tennis is approaching that moment that many would like to never come.

Rafael Nadal says he is convinced that there are “a couple of beautiful years ahead”, but his resignation to continue playing this season anticipates what millions of fans would never want to happen and will inevitably come: a world without him and Roger Federer. 

There is a whole generation that does not know what it is to follow tennis without the presence of the Spaniard and the Swiss, who have animated the circuit for two decades. But between the two of them they are already 75 years old, and that is being noticed.

Federer confirmed this week, days after his 40th birthday, that he will have to undergo surgery on his knee, which has already been operated on twice in the last year and a half. Nadal again has problems in his left foot and this Friday confirmed that he will not play the U.S. Open, which begins on the 30th of this month.

“I’ve been suffering more than I should with my foot for a year now,” lamented the Spaniard, a four-time U.S. Open champion.

“It’s a year that I’ve missed things that are very important to me, like Wimbledon, like the Olympics are, like the U.S. Open is going to be now, like many other events that are also important to me. And in view of the fact that during this last year I haven’t had the capacity to be able to train and prepare and compete the way I really like to do it, I come to the conclusion that what I need is some time to recover,” he explained.

Nadal’s relationship with his left foot is certainly peculiar. In 2005 his doctor told him he could no longer play tennis, and the Spaniard even imagined a future as a golfer. In the 16 years since then he has won 20 Grand Slam titles, including an unimaginable 13 Roland Garros.

Nadal suffers from a congenital disease of the left foot, Müller-Weiss dysplasia, caused by the deformation of the scaphoid of the foot, a bone in which multiple tendon and ligamentous structures, such as the posterior tibial tendon, are inserted. He has been using insoles since 2005 to alleviate the problem.

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to get back in the best shape possible to keep competing for the things that really motivate me. There are a couple of beautiful years ahead, I’m going to work hard to keep enjoying the sport for a while longer,” Nadal said.

The resignation of Nadal and Federer to continue playing in 2021 opens the way for the Serbian Novak Djokovic, who failed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in his attempt to pave the way to a Golden Slam.

The world number one has, however, the possibility of winning next month the US Open and thus conquer the Grand Slam, the four major tournaments in the same season, something that tennis has not known since the Australian Rod Laver did it for the second time in 1969.

If Djokovic were to win in New York, he would also surpass Federer and Nadal, with whom he ties on 20 Grand Slam titles won.

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