Rafael Nadal Supports French Open Rescheduling Despite Possible Implications

Rafael Nadal will have to wait a little longer in order to defend his Roland Garros title. Nadal is known to be the best clay-court player in this era given the way he has dominated his way to 12 French Open titles. He is aiming for his 20th overall Grand Slam and is seeking to tie Roger Federer with the most Majors in history.

The global pandemic of the coronavirus continues to impact the entire world with the threat it brings to everyone. Thousands are being infected and people are panicking, as managing through the time of COVID-19 remains to be the world’s priority. With the effects of the virus, multiple sporting events have been suspended.

In the tennis world, the Indian Wells Masters was the first to be canceled that shocked the entire community. But immediately after, multiple events have started to pull out.

This has then affected the French Open. The organizers decided to postpone the event to September and will end in October. The annual clay-court event is played during the month of May.

The implication of this is that the tournament will be played immediately a week after the US Open concludes – assuming that the US Open will not be affected. Not only will it be cramped between majors, but it also stands as a conflict with the 2020 Laver Cup.

This has caused a major dilemma from several players as some have already committed to participating in the newly ATP sanctioned tournament. This includes Roger Federer whose management group is part of the organizing committee for the Laver Cup.

Despite these concerns, Nadal remains to be calm and understanding of the situation. Per Express, the French Tennis Federation president Bernard Guidicelli claimed Nadal supports the decision to postpone the Roland Garros.

French tennis administrator and former player Guy Forget was able to get a hold of Nadal on his thoughts regarding the decision. "It was Guy [Forget] who got Rafa. His feeling is that it is a good decision that keeps clay on the calendar," said Guidicelli.

The French Tennis Federation said by way of BBC, that the lockdown made it impossible for them to continue organizing the event. They added that it was to "guarantee the health and safety of all those involved in the preparation of the tournament.”