Rafael Nadal Not Happy With Mandatory ATP Events

The Rogers Cup 2019 champion, Rafael Nadal skipped the ongoing Western and Southern Open 2019 in Cincinnati due to fatigue and in order to prepare himself for the US Open 2019. The Spaniard skipped the Cincinnati Masters for the second straight year after participating in the Canadian Open.

Tennis players have always complained about the length of the seasons. The ATP tour starts from January first week and ends in November with very little time in between for recovery. However, the 18-time Grand Slam Champion does not feel that the season is too long but he perceived that the mandatory events are too long.

In an interview, Rafael Nadal suggested that the ATP World Tour is not very long. However, the mandatory tournaments going on until the end of the season is the problem. He said, “No, I don’t think the seasons are too long. What is too long is the mandatory events. For me, the seasons can be longer. Is not about this problem.”

The Spaniard believes that the long season creates more jobs for the people around and also feels that a sport gets big when there are more people who can make a living from the sport.

He added, “The season is longer is better because we create more jobs. There are more players that can play tournaments. The sports are not only big when the top guys are winning a lot of money. Tournament sports are bigger when there are more people living in this sport.”

Rafael Nadal suggested adding more events on the tour. However, he explained that the problem is bigger tournaments goes on till the last week of November. He continued, “My feeling is we can have more and more tournaments. That’s not the problem. The problem is the mandatory tournaments are until very late November. Yes, that is a problem.”

Rafael Nadal further added, “Mandatory tournaments, you have to face the best players in the world. People always sometimes get criticized when we play exhibitions. Okay, is a different world. Is not the same to play an exhibition than to play an official tournament against the best players in the world.”

Rafael Nadal has skipped the Paris Masters and Shanghai Masters which are scheduled after the US Open several times in his 18-year-old career. He has also not won the ATP World Tour finals in his career as he tends to get tired of playing the mandatory events till then. The 33-year-old again shed a light on the important events being played till late of the season and suggested to change it.

He concluded, “For me is about mandatory tournaments are until last week of the season. That’s the main thing. If we were able to change that to skip — not to skip, but have the mandatory events before, then keep having tournaments, will be better for everyone, my feeling.”