Rafael Nadal targets a fifth US Open and 23rd Grand Slam title in New York from next week with his path to the title no longer blocked by Novak Djokovic, whose refusal to get vaccinated has ruled him out of a second major this year. Nineteen years after making his debut, the 36-year-old Nadal drags his injury-prone body into a tournament he won in 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2019, the year of his last appearance. The Spaniard has had to sit out the US Open four times in his career and there are once again fresh doubts over his physical ability to survive a gruelling two weeks at Flushing Meadows. Since an abdomen injury forced him to hand Nick Kyrgios a walkover into the Wimbledon final, Nadal has played just once -- a first-up loss to Borna Coric in Cincinnati. Nadal admitted on Friday that he had been protecting his injury in Cincinnati but had been able to practice with intensity in the build-up to the US Open. 

"I take it very easy in the Cincinnati, too, in the practices. The match, I try my best without putting all the effort there on the serve," Nadal said. "I hope to be ready for the action. That's the only thing that I can say. "Taking care with the serve, being honest. But in general terms, yes, I am practicing at high level of intensity." Nadal has become accustomed to overcoming setbacks, winning a 14th French Open in June despite playing the whole tournament with pain-killing injections in his foot. An added incentive for Nadal is the opportunity to reclaim the world number one spot from defending champion Daniil Medvedev, the man he defeated in the 2019 final. While Nadal trains in New York, career-long rival Djokovic will remain in Europe after finally giving up hope of a last-minute change of Covid policy by the US authorities. The famously unvaccinated Djokovic, who won the last of his three US Open crowns in 2018, is barred from entering the United States for refusing to take the vaccine. The 35-year-old, who saw his bid for a first men's calendar Grand Slam since 1969 ended by Medvedev in the 2021 US Open final, hasn't played since securing a seventh Wimbledon title last month, a victory which extended his Slam record to 21. 

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