Tennis

Rafael Nadal explains his position on ATP/WTA merger after backing Roger Federer comments


Rafael Nadal has explained why he feels a merger between the ATP and WTA would make everything ‘easier’ within the sport.

In April, Roger Federer created a stir when he expressed his feeling that the tours should come together.

“Just wondering … am I the only one thinking that now is the time for men’s and women’s tennis to be united and come together as one?” he said.

“I am not talking about merging competition on the court but merging the 2 governing bodies (ATP and WTA) that oversee the men’s and women’s professional tours.

“It probably should have happened a long time ago, but maybe now is really the time. These are tough times in every sport and we can come out of this with 2 weakened bodies or 1 stronger body.”

Federer received plenty of support although the likes of Nick Kyrgios shared his disapproval at the potential move.

Among the players to respond to Federer was his great rival Nadal, who wrote: “Hey @rogerfederer. As you know per our discussions I completely agree that it would be great to get out of this world crisis with the union of men’s and women’s tennis in one only organisation.”

With both tours currently suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic and players struggling financially, the idea of a merger has become a much-discussed subject.

In the past, Nadal has been opposed to the idea of a merger but on Thursday he opened up on why he now feels it would be beneficial for all involved.

“I don’t have any information about that. It’s just an idea and just a message that Roger left there, and that’s it,” he said.

“I support it because I think that working like a single organisation in the perfect world is easier for everything. But that doesn’t mean that we need to play every single event as a combined event.

“The tours can keep working separately but work like in a single organisation. Why not? The feeling is it would be better, and less difficult in terms of organising.”

With no tennis on the immediate horizon, Nadal is training at his world-class academy in Mallorca.

The hope within tennis is that the season will resume in August but Nadal insists it can only restart if the safety of all involved is assured.

He added: “I think we have a worldwide tour. My feeling is we need to be clear, we need to be responsible, we need to be sending strong messages and we need to be a positive example for society.

“We need to understand that we are suffering unprecedented situations, and my feeling is we need to come back when all the players from all the countries of the world are able to travel under safe circumstances.

“If not, in my personal opinion, we will come back, yes, and I probably will play, maybe yes, but my feeling will be that we are not being 100 per cent correct and I want to see my sport 100 per cent fair and correct, especially under these circumstances.”





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