Rafael Nadal currently not prepared to travel abroad for tennis tournaments: 'It's not an ideal situation'
World no2 Rafael Nadal says he would not be willing to travel to compete in a tennis tournament as things stand with regards to the coronavirus crisis.
Top-level tennis has been on hiatus since February, with the ATP and WTA Tours both suspended until late July, the French Open postponed and Wimbledon cancelled for the first time since World War Two.
However, organisers remain hopeful of staging the US Open at a "safe environment" at Flushing Meadows between August 31 and September 13, with reports from the New York Times this week suggesting that the Western & Southern Open - which usually takes place in Cincinnati in the build-up to the US Open - could be moved to New York in a bid to establish a safer bubble for players.
French Tennis Federation President Bernard Giudicelli has also insisted that the rescheduled French Open will take place in September, though Nadal believes that such a global sport should not resume until competitors can travel safely once again.
"It's not an ideal situation - if you ask me today if I want to travel to play a tennis tournament, I will say no," the 19-time Grand Slam winner said in a Zoom call with media.
"I am confident they will make the right decisions in the right moment to be sure that if (the US Open) is played it is going to be under extremely safe circumstances - if not, in my opinion, it doesn't make sense.
"We have a worldwide sport and my feeling is that we need to be clear and responsible. It's not the same as football which can be played in one country. When you mix people from every single part of the world the complications are completely different.
"We need to understand that we are suffering an unprecedented situation and my feeling is we need to come back when all the players of all the world are able to travel under safe circumstances.
"If not, in my personal opinion, will we come back? Yes, and I probably will play, yes, but my feeling will be that we are not being 100 per cent fair and correct."
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