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Rafael Nadal and Toni Nadal have the same opinion on the on-court shot clock that will be introduced in the US Open Series and in the fourth calendar Grand Slam of the year as well. Both of them do not approve of the innovation. The senior Nadal also had a strong comment on who proposed this rule.

'I think it would be a bad decision,' he said about the chance of seeing this rule being constantly applied on the ATP Tour. 'To me, a 25-second limit is for the less intelligent (ones). If you think that it's better to have a 24-shot rally rather than two shots, then you need more time. But if we want a match where we do not think, then it's okay,' the 57-year-old said speaking at the Swedish Open in Bastad on Saturday, as quoted by Expressen.

Reflecting on his long journey with the world no. 1, Toni confessed: 'Since when we started playing, with Rafael aged three, I worked thinking that he could be a fantastic player. During all these years, it was special to get involved in his career and go with him to Australia, New York, Paris. Now my relationship with him is (that of an) uncle, not a coach. I congratulate him when he wins, while when he loses I say something else.'


Then he finally added: 'I do not know if my help was important for his success, but I definitely did something for my nephew.'

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Bradley Klahn and Nicole Gibbs Move Into

US Open Wild Card Challenge Leads

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Challenge Continues This Week with Men’s Tournaments in Atlanta, Binghamton, N.Y., and Granby, Quebec, and Women’s Event in Ashland, Ky.



WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., July 23, 2018 – Bradley Klahn and Nicole Gibbs, both former NCAA singles champions from Stanford, shot to the top of the US Open Wild Card Challenge standings after Week 2, with Klahn winning the singles title at the $75,000 ATP Challenger in Gatineau, Quebec, and Gibbs reaching the final of the $60,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Berkeley, Calif.



Klahn’s 80 points well outpaces second-place Collin Altamirano’s 32. The singles title is the first since 2014 for the 2010 NCAA champ, the year he rose to No. 63 in the world before a series of back injuries kept him away from the game for nearly two years. He returned at the end of 2016 and made his first Grand Slam main draw appearance since 2014 at Wimbledon this summer, when he qualified and reached the second round.



Gibbs’ 48 points ties Jessica Pegula atop the women’s standings. American Sofia Kenin beat Gibbs to win the title in Berkeley, but Kenin received direct entry into the US Open and is therefore ineligible for the Challenge. Gibbs, who won back-to-back NCAA singles titles at Stanford in 2012-13, has played in the main draw of the US Open each of the last six years, reaching the third round in 2014.



Click here to view the full standings.



A large pool of American men will have the chance to earn points in Week 3, as the men’s Challenge will include results from the US Open Series’ BB&T Atlanta Open ATP 250 tournament, as well as the ATP Challengers in Granby, Quebec, and Binghamton, N.Y.

The women’s side of the Challenge includes only the USTA Pro Circuit $60,000 event in Ashland, Ky., this week.



Only hard-court events are included in the Challenge, which will consider the best three results for the men and the best two results for the women during this five-week window. Only Americans who do not earn direct entry into the US Open are eligible. In the event of a tie, the player with the best ATP or best WTA singles ranking on Aug. 13 will be awarded the wild card.



The remaining events in the US Open Wild Card Challenge:



Men’s Events

Week of July 23: Atlanta ATP 250; Granby, Canada $100,000; Binghamton, N.Y. $75,000
Week of July 30: Washington D.C. ATP 500; Los Cabos ATP 250; Chengdu, China $125,000; Segovia, Spain €85,000+H; Lexington, Ky. $75,000
Week of August 6: Toronto ATP Masters 1000; Jinan, China $150,000; Aptos, Calif. $100,000; Portoroz, Slovenia €64,000+H
Women’s Events

Week of July 23: Ashland, Ky. $60,000
Week of July 30: San Jose WTA Premier; Washington, D.C. WTA International; Lexington, Ky. $60,000
Week of August 6: Landisville, Pa. $60,000


All USTA Pro Circuit tournaments will be streamed live on www.procircuit.usta.com. This is the seventh consecutive year the USTA has used a wild card challenge format to award US Open wild cards for American players.



Information on the US Open Wild Card Challenge will be available at www.procircuit.usta.com. Follow the USTA Pro Circuit #USTAProCircuit.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal is one of six former champions set to headline the men’s singles field at the 2018 US Open. The world No. 1 will have to navigate a star-studded field in order to claim his fourth New York title this summer.

Officially announced on Wednesday, the 2018 direct entry list also includes five-time champion Roger Federer, two-time titlist Novak Djokovic, 2009 winner Juan Martin del Potro, 2012 champ Andy Murray and 2014 winner Marin Cilic.

World No. 3 Alex Zverev, who has not advanced beyond the second round in three US Open main-draw appearances, will look to make his breakthrough this time around, and Kevin Anderson, a US Open and Wimbledon finalist in the past 12 months, rounds out the Top 5 entrants.

John Isner, who has achieved a new career-high ranking of No. 8 after his semifinal run at Wimbledon, will likely enter the tournament as the top-ranked American, while No. 6 Grigor Dimitrov and No. 9 Dominic Thiem complete the Top 10.

After missing out due to injury in 2017, Djokovic, Murray, Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori are all set to return to the New York hard courts this August.

Of the Top 100 men in the ATP World Tour Rankings, Tomas Berdych is the lone player to withdraw from this year's event. The Czech will sit out due to a back injury.

The 2018 US Open main draw will be played Monday, Aug. 27, through Sunday, Sept. 9, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.

The 101 men who received direct entry into the US Open represent 40 different countries, with the United States boasting the most guaranteed entrants with 11.

In addition to Isner, the American contingent also includes world No. 14 Jack Sock, No. 28 Sam Querrey, No. 45 Frances Tiafoe, No. 48 Steve Johnson, No. 55 Ryan Harrison, No. 56 Tennys Sandgren, No. 60 Jared Donaldson, No. 65 Taylor Fritz, No. 80 Mackenzie McDonald and No. 86 Denis Kudla.

Serbia's Viktor Troicki, ranked No. 102, was the last man to receive direct entry into the field of 128. Murray is one of three men who used a protected ranking to gain entry, alongside Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka and Germany’s Cedrik-Marcel Stebe.

The July 16 edition of the ATP Rankings was used to determine the US Open main-draw entry list, though seeds will be determined and announced closer to the start of the event.

Sixteen more players will gain entry through the US Open Qualifying Tournament, held Aug. 21-24, while the eight remaining spots are wild cards awarded by the USTA.

After combining to win six of the last seven major titles, Nadal and Federer will be among the favorites to lift the trophy this summer. Despite having met 38 times in their legendary careers, including 12 times in Grand Slams, the world's top two players have never met in New York.

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the US Open with special recognitions and ceremonies to honor the tradition and history of the event throughout this year's tournament, a long-awaited showdown between the two former champions could be a perfect addition to the festivities.