Just like the other start athletes to get back on track to action, Rafael Nadal wants tennis to resume but not while Covid-19 remains a threat for everybody. Rafael Nadal has expressed that tennis should not be resumed until a vaccine is produced so that players are able to travel safely in order to compete around the world without a glimpse of hesitation and fear.
“If you asked me today if I want to travel to New York to play, I will say: ‘No, I will not.’ In a couple of months I don’t know how the situation will improve,” he said. He also emphasized that it is important to give full-attention in taking care of our health and pull back from the normal routines to prevent the deadly threat of coronavirus.
Nadal said: “We need to be responsible; we need to be sending strong messages and we need to be a positive example for society. We need to understand we are suffering an unprecedented situation and my feeling is that we need to come back when all the players from all the countries of the world are able to travel under safe circumstances.”
“If not? In my personal opinion we will come back and I probably will play but my feeling will be that we are not being 100% correct.”
June 15 is the scheduled date to open Harcourt swing and the ATP and WTA will decide whether to push it through after everything is undercover. Should the tournament go ahead it will have made significant compromises, including ferrying players to New York on charter flights from a handful of cities. Also, as health is the most paramount concern,
Nadal’s celebrated his 34th birthday. To wit, this is one of the few moments in the past 15 years he has spent outside Paris rather than in the middle of one of his 12 Roland Garros title runs. The question of how the suspension will affect him remains unclear.
He said: “I think the longer stop is tougher for older bodies because it is more difficult to come back to 100%. But at the same time we have the experience, too. I have experienced injuries in the past, so in some way we know how to come back.
“I cannot tell you if we will not be able to play longer or not, let’s see. I’m passionate about coming back on the tour, playing for a couple of years hopefully and keep enjoying the things I like the most.”
Nadal also expressed his thoughts and has been watching the protests in the United States over the inhumane death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer. “All the normal people and all the people who want a peaceful and good world, we are against racism, poverty, all the terrible stuff which is happening more often than we would like.
“When you see all these disasters on the streets, my feeling is: ‘That is not the way to protest.’ That’s not a good example. The situation is critical but I really believe strongly in people and I really believe we will be able to fix the problems.
“Everything takes time. All the improvements in our story, the human story, have taken time but we are getting there in all ways. To be for everybody the same, for everybody to have the same opportunities, the same rights in terms of being protected. We have to keep working hard to make this world a better place.”
