Rafael Nadal has been seen supporting the #BlackLivesMatter movement since it started, but due to some violent protests now, he has stated that it is not the way to protest and explained that he is against racism and the people who spread it but he couldn’t support violence.
Meanwhile, violence needs to be denounced said Nadal, and also defended that he was still supporting the call for Justice for George Floyd devotedly.
“I think it’s a very long conversation and it’s a difficult situation to answer right now. We don’t have enough time to talk about this problem,” said Nadal in a Zoom press conference call with international media on Thursday.
“But of course, all the people who want a peaceful world, we are against racism, we are against poverty, we are against all terrible stuff that is happening in this world. Of course, the situation is critical but I really believe strongly in people and I really believe that we will be able to fix the problems,” added Nadal.
Also, speaking via Zoom to tennis media, Nadal was asked his intentions on playing at the US Open, he replied, “If you asked me today if I want to travel today to New York to play a tennis tournament, I will say: no, I will not,” the world number two told reporters. “In a couple of months, I don’t know. Hopefully yes. We need to wait probably until we have more information about how the virus evolves, how the situation’s going to be. New York has been one of the places that have been hit most strongly by the virus.”
According to Nadal, When tennis resumes it will most likely be without fans.
“I hate the idea, honestly. But if that’s the only way, why not? That’s my position. I don’t understand tennis without the energy of the crowd, without the passion a full stadium brings,” Nadal said.
With seeing rising COVID-19 death in different regions, Nadal thinks that tennis faces a tough challenge to resume.
“We can’t come back until the situation is completely safe and players from every single part (of the world) can travel to the tournaments under safe circumstances to compete,” he said.
“From my point of view if we would have a vaccine by December, I would say that it wouldn’t make any sense to go back to play tennis now, I don’t think it’s worth it to take the risks. But if they say we will have it for two years, then we need to find ways to go back to some kind of normality because the world and sport can’t stop for so long.” he concluded.
