Due to a coronavirus, the tennis season is halted at least until the last week of April, with slim chances to see the action in May as well, especially in Italy, Spain and France. World no. 2 Rafael Nadal went to Indian Wells after claiming the title in Acapulco but couldn’t compete for the fourth title in the desert, with the organizers canceling the opening two Masters 1000 events of the season and sending the players to their homes.
Rafa left Indian Wells some five days after he arrived, heading back home to Porto Cristo in Mallorca and working on physical exercises and hoping to hit the court at his Rafa Nadal Academy again, even though it is not easy to tell when he will be able to compete again.
Just six weeks after the Davis Cup Finals last November, Nadal led Spain at the inaugural ATP Cup and scored wins over Nikoloz Basilashvili, Pablo Cuevas and Yoshihito Nishioka, pushing his country into the quarters together with Roberto Bautista Agut who was too strong for the lower-ranked opponents.
Facing the first serious challenge, Rafa suffered a 6-4, 7-6 loss to David Goffin after grueling two hours and 23 minutes, wasting his opportunities before bouncing back in the doubles clash to keep Spain alive in the competition.
In the semis, Nadal battled past Alex de Minaur after another marathon to propel his country into the final where he stood no chance against Novak Djokovic, losing 6-2, 7-6 and missing the opportunity to conquer another team event when Serbia defeated Spain in the deciding doubles encounter.
Chasing the first Australian Open title since 2009, Nadal ousted Hugo Dellien, Federico Delbonis, Pablo Carreno Busta and Nick Kyrgios after an intense battle to reach the quarter-final, standing one victory away from keeping the no.
1 spot ahead of Djokovic regardless of other results. Nonetheless, Dominic Thiem halted Rafa in four epic sets after four hours and ten minutes, taking all three tie breaks and allowing Novak Djokovic to clinch the title and become world no.
1 again ahead of the Spaniard. After Melbourne, Nadal had to stay on the road for a week, opening Rafa Nadal Academy in Kuwait on February 5 and playing against Roger Federer in Cape Town two days later in front of the record-breaking crowd of 52,000, heading back home to Mallorca before conquering the 85th title in Acapulco, his last event so far.
Rafael Nadal reveals his plan of action with ATP Tour cancellation due to coronavirus
The ATP Tour has been suspended until April due to the ongoing coronavirus threat.
Rafael Nadal has revealed he is staying indoors and working on his physical conditioning as he copes with the suspension of ATP Tour competition. Last week, the ATP announced a six-week suspension of the men’s professional tennis tour due to escalating health and safety issues arising from the global coronavirus outbreak.
Nadal was among the players who had already arrived at Indian Wells when the BNP Paribas Open was cancelled.
And shortly afterwards he flew back to his hometown of Manacor with his team before the travel restrictions were put in place by the United States.
Nadal and the rest of the ATP now face an anxious wait to learn when competition will restart.
But there are fears the April 27 resumption will be extended and lead to the cancellation of the French Open.
However, Nadal is still keeping up his fitness and he is quoted by Marca as saying: “I am at home doing physical exercise.”
The ATP is due to play a Masters 1000 event in Madrid from May 4 but a state of emergency has been declared by the government.
In Spain, the number of recorded cases of the virus has surpassed 9,000 with over 300 deaths.
On Monday, the government announced its land borders would be closed as around 47million Spanish people have been banned from leaving their homes.
And it was revealed Maria Begona Gomez Fernandez, wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, had tested positive for Covid-19.
Meanwhile, European officials are considering shutting its external borders to foreigners for 30 days.
The head of the EU’s executive, Ursula von der Leyen said: “The less travel, the more we can contain the virus.
“Therefore I propose to the heads of state and government to introduce a temporary restriction on non-essential travel to the EU. These travel restrictions should be in place for an initial period of 30 days, but can be prolonged as necessary.”
Meanwhile, the WTA has followed the ATP in postponing their tournaments for the foreseeable future.
A WTA spokesperson said: “Due to the ongoing global coronavirus outbreak, the WTA tournaments in Stuttgart, Istanbul and Prague will not be held as scheduled.
“We regret this is the case for all of our loyal fans, players, sponsors and all those who support women’s professional tennis. At this point in time, the WTA Tour is now suspended until May 2.
“We will make a decision in the week ahead regarding the remaining WTA European clay court events and will continue to monitor this situation closely and its impact on the 2020 WTA Tour season.”
