Recently Pam Shriver and Jim Courier were invited to a talk show to discuss tennis mainly about the current Big 3 and their chances of winning Majors in the upcoming year. Both Shriver and Courier added their opinions but they both agreed that Rafael Nadal will win a Major title in 2022 and Roger Federer won’t win. It is mainly due to his persistent injury concerns.
The big 3 of Federer, Nadal and Novak Djokovic are tied at 20 Grand Slam each. While the first two have taken considerable time off from the court nursing from their respective injuries, Djokovic has caught up a lot this year. Shriver and Courier predicted that the Serb should win two Major titles. However, they also left one for Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev.
Both Nadal and Federer have missed multiple Grand Slams last year and the Swiss may also miss the upcoming Australian Open next year. Pam Shriver, a tennis doubles legend with 22 Grand Slams pointed out her feelings as she agreed to Jim Courier’s statement of Federer not winning any Major title in 2022.
“They will change for sure, Federer will not, Novak will for sure, I think he will get to 22 in ’22,” Shriver said during a conversation on Tennis Channel. “And Rafa, I think will win one, and we’ll say one for either Medvedev or someone who has never won one before,” she added.
Courier, who agreed to Shriver’s statement also added that he feels Federer will look to take one last shot at the Wimbledon while he is certain that Nadal will try and win his 14th title at the Roland Garros.
“I think it’s reasonable to expect that, given where everyone is health-wise, Federer doesn’t seem like he’ll be able to play in Australia. Most likely he’ll try and target Wimbledon again if he’s lucky enough with good health and we certainly wish him all the best on that one. Nadal will be targeting Roland Garros and trying to round himself into form,” Courier opined.
It was a tough year for Nadal as he suffered a lot with his foot injury. The Spaniard called his season short due to the increasing pain on his foot and wanted to get it addressed first. He is all set to return to the court at the Australian Open. He chose not to get operated and rather went for some alternative treatment and his current status suggest that he is doing some light training and should be available for the Australian Open next year.
