Marion Bartoli on 2020 US Open: ‘You can’t call it a Grand Slam when many players are not showing up’

Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli believes this year’s two US Open champions “will know that they didn’t really win the US Open” due to the number of withdrawals.
This year’s Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows will be sans the defending champions as Rafael Nadal and Bianca Andreescu have pulled out due to the coronavirus pandemic.
They won’t be the only ones missing as besides Andreescu, five other WTA top 10 players will be missing including world No 1 Ashleigh Barty and world No 2 Simona Halep, while on the men’s side Stan Wawrinka and Nick Kyrgios will also be absent.
Some pundits have stated that the US Open will be devalued, and 2013 Wimbledon winner Bartoli also feels this year’s champions will have an asterisk next to their names.
“I think the player himself or herself who will win the US Open under these circumstances will know that they didn’t really win the US Open,” she told TennisMajors.com.
“You can’t really say that you won a Grand Slam when you have 20 out of the top 32 players not coming, for example, if that is happening.
“You know it is just a regular tournament that you won, and you are happy that you won and you are happy that you have been able to get through all the difficulties and you navigated through all of this, but you can’t really call it a Grand Slam when there is that many people not showing up at all.”
Follow us on Twitter @T365Official.
Latest
-
French Open
French Open: Naomi Osaka handed tough first round assignment
Naomi Osaka takes on seeded oppostion in the French Open first round.
-
French Open
Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic thrown together in French Open draw
Tournament favourites Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are uncomfortably close in the French Open draw.
-
French Open
Carlos Alcaraz makes 23-year-old top ten player feel old
Carlos Alcaraz makes Casper Ruud feel like time is getting away from him.
-
French Open
Casper Ruud a big fan of Ons Jabeur and Simona Halep
Ons Jabeur claimed the Madrid Open title earlier this month.
-
French Open
Exclusive – Annabel Croft on ‘big match player’ Emma Raducanu’s prospects for this summer
Annabel Croft has backed teenager Raducanu to defy some of her doubters this summer.
-
French Open
French Open: Rafael Nadal slips, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz favourite
Rafael Nadal is still considered a strong contender for the French Open crown.
-
Tennis News
Roger Federer comeback on track as agent reveals Swiss icon is keen to have a crack at Wimbledon 2023
Roger Federer “won’t rush back this time”.
-
French Open
French Open talking points: Ashleigh Barty void, Emma Raducanu’s pain, Hawk-Eye snub
A few talking points ahead of the 2022 French Open.
-
French Open
Red-hot Iga Swiatek ’embracing’ the pressure ahead of French Open, says Martina Navratilova
Iga Swiatek is thriving.
-
Tennis News
Novak Djokovic ‘rose in Belgrade’, says tennis pundit as he highlights ‘turning point’ in world No 1’s season
Novak Djokovic “very close to his best form”.