End of career due to corona crisis? Rafael Nadal doesn't even think about it
No international professional tennis in 2020 - a scenario that is now quite conceivable. Neither Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal, however, want this to be the end of a career.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: May 12, 2020, 12:39 pm
Actually, Rafael Nadal would currently be in the middle of the favorite part of his tennis season: on the sand, with a view of the French Open and a 13th victory here. As is well known, everything turned out differently - but Nadal does not think of an end to his career at the present time. And that literally. "I don't even think about it," the 33-year-old told the daily La Voz de Galicia .
"800 to 900 people died in Spain every day. That was a time when Roland Garros, Wimbledon or the US Open didn't even exist in my head. There were other concerns," said Nadal.
Nadal: "Took the opportunity to play the big titles"
Of course, the corona pandemic robbed all players of their careers by one year. Others had that because of injuries. And of course it was something else in "high" tennis player age. "Someone who's 33 or 34, or 38, like Roger - it's not the same as if it happened to someone who was only 21." Even if he would not have felt that way even at a young age. "If that had happened to me at the age of 21, I would have thought: What a catastrophe! But at this age you have your entire career ahead of you. On the other hand, you are deprived of the opportunities to play the big titles at an advanced age."
Apart from that, of course, what you want to do is taken away - but that's the way it goes for everyone, not just tennis players. But, according to Nadal: "You have to be responsible and think about what really matters."
It currently remains open whether the French Open may be rescheduled in late year. The French tennis association had arbitrarily postponed Roland Garros to September 20 to October 4 , most recently a postponement of another week was under discussion, also to widen the break after the US Open . According to the current status, it would only be a week.