DOHA: Rafael Nadal told Spanish media that the year is virtually over for tennis to resume due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I hope to play as soon as possible but if I think about it logically, we travel every week from one place to another, we are in contact with hotels, airports, all in different places,” Nadal told Spanish newspaper ABC on Tuesday.
The men’s and women’s tours have been stopped, with Wimbledon cancelled for the first time since World War II and the French Open postponed until the end of September.
But Nadal believed that the chances of tennis restarting before the end of this year are slim.
“If you gave me the ability to guarantee that in January 2021, a normal season like before will begin, I would sign for that now with my eyes closed.”
In a separate interview with El Pais, Nadal said: “I’m more looking to the Australian Open than what happens later this year. I see 2020 as practically lost.”
Even if the sport returns this summer, the 33-year-old could choose to skip the US Open and save himself for the French Open, his pet event, given there would be just a week between the two.
“It’s all hypothetical because I don’t think it will be like that,” said Nadal to ABC. “My feeling, and I say it with sadness and I won’t lie to you, is that we are losing a year of our lives.
“And at 33 or 34 years old that is much more valuable than at 20 when you have many more years ahead, even if it’s still a year.
“Frankly, I think that will not happen. From the US Open to Roland Garros with a week in between, I just don’t think we can play.”
