World No.2 Rafael Nadal, who was previously open to the idea of playing competitive tennis behind closed doors, does not wish to compete until the coronavirus pandemic subsides. The 19-time Grand Slam winner explained that he does not have the correct mindset to play professionally during the crisis.

The tennis tour came to a halt for an indefinite period since mid-March due to the outbreak of coronavirus. Consequently, the Spaniard has suggested it might take longer for the sport to return to normalcy. However, even if the sport resumes anytime soon, it might take him a while to get back in action.

“There’s a long way to go for me to compete again” – Rafael Nadal

The 33-year-old expressed his desire to be able to train and compete again. However, he cannot think of fulfilling his desires during these tough times. Moreover, he does not see any ‘quick solution’ in the fight against the coronavirus.

“Right now I want to go training, do I want to compete? Yes but to some degree, I’ve internalized the issue and since I don’t see a quick solution, I’m not in that mindset where I want to compete,” Nadal said in an interview to Marca.

“It’s different now and I personally think there’s a long way to go for me to compete again. But I trust that this will be fixed until then we must be responsible and cautious,” he added.

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The novel coronavirus continues to sweep across the globe with more than 2.1 million active cases worldwide. Moreover, the virus has killed around 211,000 people so far. The tour is a long way away from resuming since the global sport requires weekly travel.  We hope that the global pandemic subsides soon and we get to watch our favorite players competing on the courts again.