Rafael Nadal’s Quest To Tie Roger Federer's Grand Slams Encounters Slight Delay

Given the current global pandemic, Rafael Nadal believes it’s best to take as much caution as possible regarding the rest of the games left in the year. This development may delay his quest in tying Roger Federer with the most Grand Slams in men’s tennis history.

The story of Roger Federer has been considered as one of the most decorated careers in sports history. The manner he has dominated may seem like he’s the only player in the world worthy of the greatest of all time moniker in tennis. This however is challenged by Nadal who is only one major away to tie Federer.

This, unfortunately, may see a slight delay with the recent situation of the coronavirus pandemic. Per BBC, Nadal shared that traveling in order to compete at this time is not part of his priorities.

"If you asked me if I want to travel to New York today to play a tennis tournament, I will say no - I will not," Nadal said.

There have been talks about the US Open and when the games will return. The resumption of the Grand Slam may happen in an empty stadium and behind closed doors. Per the United States Tennis Association, this is speculated to happen sometime in August.

While the feasibility of this is still in question, players such as Nadal have voiced out their concerns regarding this issue.

"But in a couple of months, I don't know how the situation is going to improve. I am confident that if the tournament is played, it's going to be under extremely safe circumstances. If not, in my opinion, it doesn't make sense," Nadal shared.

It is argued that Nadal is among the best to ever step foot on the tennis court. The left-handed Spaniard has been constantly thrown in the discussion as one of the most iconic players of all time.

With 19 Grand Slams under his belt, he is only one major away from equaling Roger Federer. While it’s a known fact that Federer and Nadal are friends, the two have also been great rivals throughout their careers.

Despite Nadal’s drive to win more titles, he currently has a different set of concerns he’s worrying about. As one of the biggest icons of the sport, Nadal’s voice and influence hold bearing to the tennis community.

With this, Nadal has emphasized that everyone must be safe and treated right during this unprecedented time. To add to this, the defending US Open champion highlighted the need to find a vaccine before things can settle down a bit more.

"The key, of course, is to find a medicine that helps us to be sure we can travel and compete without being scared of having the virus and bringing back the virus home. My feeling is we need to wait a little bit more."

It will be interesting to monitor what will happen in the near future and how the landscape of tennis will look like in the coming months.