Rafael Nadal withdraws from the US Open, the 3rd Grand Slam tournament he'll miss this year

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Rafael Nadal withdraws from the US Open, the 3rd Grand Slam tournament he'll miss this year

2024-08-08 05:08 Last Updated At：05:10

Rafael Nadal pulled out of the U.S. Open on Wednesday, making it the third Grand Slam tournament he's missed this season and raising more questions about his future in tennis at age 38.

Nadal wrote on social media that he will miss “those electric and special night sessions” in Arthur Ashe Stadium, “but I don’t think I would be able to give my 100% this time.”

He added that his next event will be the Laver Cup in Berlin on Sept. 20-22. Nadal teamed with Roger Federer in a doubles match at that event in 2022, when Federer played for the final time before his retirement.

Nadal's announcement was not much of a surprise. Yes, he was on the official entry list released last month for New York, but that was more of a formality than anything and did not preclude the 22-time major champion from withdrawing at any point before competition begins Aug. 26.

Plus, Nadal telegraphed this news a week ago after his participation in the 2024 Olympics for Spain ended with a quarterfinal loss in doubles alongside Carlos Alcaraz. That followed a second-round loss in singles to rival Novak Djokovic, who left Paris with the men's gold medal.

When he was asked then about playing at the U.S. Open, Nadal paused for a while before responding.

“Looks like not. But I’m going to let you know soon,” he said. “For me, now, I can’t give you a clear answer. I need some time, but for me, (it) looks difficult.”

Nadal has not announced anything about a possible retirement, but given his age and a recent history of injuries — including hip surgery in 2023 and abdominal muscle issues in 2024 that limited his number of matches the past two seasons — it seems safe to say he probably does not have much left in him.

He is a four-time champion at the U.S. Open, taking the titles in 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2019. But the absence this time means he will have sat out the hard-court tournament in four of the past five years; the exception was 2022, when he lost in the fourth round to Frances Tiafoe.

In 2023, Nadal hurt his hip during the Australian Open in January and was forced to skip the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. This year, he hurt a muscle near the hip during a tuneup event before the Australian Open, so he sat that out. He then played at the French Open in May, but lost in the first round to eventual runner-up Alexander Zverev. Nadal opted to skip Wimbledon last month so he wouldn't have to manage the transition from the clay at Roland Garros to the grass at the All England Club, before returning to clay for the Olympics.

Nadal owns a record 14 titles from the French Open, and two apiece from Wimbledon and the Australian Open. His most recent two Slam trophies arrived in 2022, at Melbourne in January and at Paris in June, pushing him ahead of Federer for the then-record of 20 Grand Slam titles for a man.

Federer announced his retirement when he was 41 at the end of the 2022 season. Both he and Nadal have since been surpassed in the Grand Slam count by Djokovic, who reached 24 by winning last year's U.S. Open.

The U.S. Tennis Association said that Nadal's place in the tournament would be taken by Mackie McDonald, the American who is No. 93, making him the highest-ranked man not yet in the field. McDonald defeated Nadal at the 2023 Australian Open.

The draw to set the brackets for the U.S. Open is scheduled for Aug. 22.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Spaniards march across 40 cities to protest the growing housing crisis

2025-04-05 22:17 Last Updated At：22:21

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Protesters returned to the streets across Spain on Saturday in anger over high housing costs with no relief in sight.

Thousands marched in the capital, Madrid, and over 30 other cities in a demonstration organized by housing activists and backed by Spain’s main labor unions.

The housing crisis has hit particularly hard in Spain, where there is a strong tradition of home ownership and scant public housing for rent. Rents have been driven up by increased demand. Buying a home has become unaffordable for many, with market pressures and speculation driving up prices, especially in big cities and coastal areas.

A generation of young people say they have to stay with their parents or spend big just to share an apartment, with little chance of saving enough to one day purchase a home. High housing costs mean even those with traditionally well-paying jobs are struggling to make ends meet.

“I’m living with four people and still, I allocate 30 or 40% of my salary to rent,” said Mari Sánchez, a 26-year-old lawyer in Madrid. “That doesn’t allow me to save. That doesn’t allow me to do anything. It doesn’t even allow me to buy a car. That’s my current situation, and the one many young people are living through.”

The average rent in Spain has almost doubled in the last 10 years. The price per square meter rose from 7.2 euros ($7.9) in 2014 to 13 euros last year, according to real estate website Idealista. The increase is bigger in Madrid and Barcelona.

Incomes have failed to keep up, especially for younger people in a country with chronically high unemployment.

Spain does not have the public housing that other European nations have invested in to cushion struggling renters from a market that is pricing them out.

Spain is near the bottom end of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries with public housing for rent making up under 2% of all available housing. The OECD average is 7%. In France it is is 14%, Britain 16% and the Netherlands 34%.

Angry renters point to instances of international hedge funds buying up properties, often with the aim of renting them to foreign tourists. The question has become so politically charged that Barcelona’s city government pledged last year to phase out all its 10,000 permits for short-term rentals, many of them advertised on platforms like Airbnb, by 2028.

Marchers in Madrid on Saturday chanted “Get Airbnb out of our neighborhoods" and held up signs against short-term rentals.

The central government's biggest initiative for curbing the cost of housing is a rent cap mechanism it has offered to regional authorities, based on a price index established by the housing ministry.

But such measures have not proven enough to stop protests over the past two years. Experts say the situation likely won't improve anytime soon.

“This is not the first, nor will it be the last, (housing protest) given the severity of the housing crisis,” Ignasi Martí, professor with the Esade business school and head of its Dignified Housing Observatory, said in an email.

“We saw this with the financial crisis (of 2008-2012) when (a protest movement) lasted until there was a certain economic recovery and a reduction in the social tension," Marti added.