‘Everybody wants to play’, but Rafael Nadal warns it is tough to add quarantine slot for Tokyo Games

Shahida Jacobs
February 3, 2021

Rafael Nadal would love to play at the Tokyo Games, but the 20-time Grand Slam winner warns it will be “difficult” for tennis to add another 15-day quarantine period to the calendar.

The 2020 Olympics were pushed back to this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but there are still major clouds hanging over the tournament as COVID-19 continues to have devastating effects across the globe.

Authorities, though, are still confident that the event will go ahead with some suggesting all athletes, support staff and officials undergo mandatory quarantine ahead of The Games, similar to the regulations that the tennis community had to adhere to ahead of the Australian Open.

Asked about the Olympics, Nadal said: “It’s the same as always: I am nobody to have a clear opinion on that. I am just a tennis player, a human person that doesn’t have enough knowledge about every situation.

“What we have to do is just follow the instructions of what the people who really have the right knowledge of all this stuff give to us.

“What’s going to happen in Tokyo for the Olympics, if the Olympics are going to happen or not, or if we have to do quarantine before Olympics for 15 days or not… it’s difficult for us.”

The world No 2 was adamant that the tennis powers that be will struggle to make space in the calendar for another two-week quarantine slot.

“Combining our Tour with another 15 days of quarantine to play Olympics… It looks difficult to fix it in our calendar,” he continued.

“But, as I said, we’re going to do what the people who know about virus and who know about protecting the people in every single country, [we] are going to just follow their instructions.

“I think everybody wants to play in Olympic Games, then let’s see what’s going on.”

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Rafael Nadal