Rafael Nadal Up For A Battle With Naomi Osaka

Before the last Slam of the year gets underway, the second seed at the American major, Rafael Nadal is ready to play a tennis match against the World Number one tennis player, Naomi Osaka.

The concept of ‘battle of the sexes’ is not new in tennis, and when Rafa was asked about a tennis match with Naomi, the Spaniard replied to TMZ Sports, “Why not?!” The Aggressive, Rafael Nadal seems to be geared up to face the powerful hitter of the WTA track, Naomi Osaka on the tennis court.

There have been several matches between men and women in the history of tennis. One of the most notable matches being Billie Jean King vs Bobby Riggs with took place in the year 1985. King defeat Riggs  6–3, 6–2, 6–4  in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the match drew over more than 90 million viewers worldwide.

In 1992, the 40-year-old,  Jimmy Connors defeated the 35-year-old, Martina Navratilova 7–5, 6–2 in Nevada, USA. Connors termed the match as ‘war’, whereas Navratilova named it as ‘battle of egos.’

Other match took place at the Australian Open 1998, between the German tennis player, Karsten Braasch, and the Williams sisters. Serena and Venus lost their matches against the 203rd ranked player and after winning, Braasch mentioned that the sisters cannot defeat the ATP men ranked above 500.

The most recent one took place in 2013, between Novak Djokovic and Li Na. It was a light-hearted exhibition mini set in Beijing, China to remark the tenth anniversary of the China Open tennis tournament.

As the tennis players arrive in New York City for the US Open 2019, Rafael Nadal will be opening against last year’s quarterfinalist, John Millman. He is likely to face Alexander Zverev or Karen Khachanov in the quarters followed by Dominic Thiem in the semifinals of the US Open 2019.