Social media have had a huge impact on everyone’s life, perhaps even more on that of sports personalities. Tennis has also been a phenomenon at the time of social media that involves not only players but also tournaments and associations. These social media platforms offer more visibility, followers, and business to these sports figures. Amongst the players, Rafael Nadal leads with around 36 million followers across Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
However, the use of social media has been a big debate in the tennis world today. Rafael Nadal also suggested that he would prefer to be in an era where there were no social networks.
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Earlier, former Spanish tennis player, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and coach, Franco Davin had explained that tennis players in the modern era are not that committed as before due to social media. However, Rafael Nadal believes that there are both pros and cons of social media.
Rafael Nadal explained in an interview ahead of the Montreal Open 2019 as quoted by Tennis World USA, “We had energy as younger players to do things but there were no social networks then, so you didn´t always have to be in front of a laptop.”
The 33-year-old further elucidated that players used to be in more closed to each other before the coming of social media. The 18-time Grand Slam champion suggested that he will prefer a world without social networks. He said, “There was more contact among the players than there is today. I grew up without the new world of social networks, and I prefer it that way. But the world changes and we have to adapt to the times.”
The 2013 Wimbledon champion, Marion Bartoli also agrees with Rafael Nadal as she admits that they used to practice more without social media. She said, “I think we were more consistent in our practice and the time we were spending on the court.”
The French player further added, “I think it’s a switch in a generation and its something that becomes even outside of tennis its the way they are living now. They are all on Instagram, all on Snapchat, all on social media.”
On the other hand, the next-gen stars looks to struggle and cope up with the harshness of social media. Earlier, Nick Kyrgios also suggested that it is hard to see negativity on the social network.
He said, “At the end of the day, you try to focus on the positive. It is tough not to see the negative as well, especially when in the click of your fingers, you go on Instagram, Twitter, you see it. Hard to block it out at times”
