Rafael Nadal: "I have talked for many hours with Novak Djokovic"

The outbreak of the pandemic brought tennis to a standstill with the cancellation of the season on red clay and grass. World number 2 Rafael Nadal believes that the nature of this sport is such as to portend a long stop before returning to the court.

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have been great rivals for years, but they have put aside any rivalry and work together to help during the emergency and make a contribution also to the world of tennis. However, the 19-time Grand Slam champion is not seeing any official tournament coming anytime soon.

“Tennis is a global sport. We move from country to country a lot and people have to move around. Until there is a cure, the situation will be really complicated. We need to be responsible. I cannot see an official tournament in the short or medium-term,” Nadal told Spanish radio station Onda Cero on Wednesday night.

"This is very serious, there are many people who are going through a terrible situation. Right now my least concern is tennis. Health comes first. But if it would be possible to play behind closed doors, I would be very happy. I have talked for many hours with Novak Djokovic to see how we can help our sport,” Nadal concluded.

Earlier, the French Open organizers took a unilateral decision to postpone the Clay Slam from mid-May to mid-September, shortly after the US Open. On the other hand, the Wimbledon Championships was canceled for the first time since World War II. The same fate happened to the Laver Cup.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2xLVboO