Nadal, the Statesman, Thinks the Latter Part of the Calendar Needs Tweaking

Written by: Staff on 13th October 2010

Nadal, the Statesman, Thinks the Latter Part of the Calendar Needs Tweaking

Rafael Nadal (ESP) |

The question to a weary Rafael Nadal confirmed the fact that not only is the world no.1 a stupendous tennis talent, he is also a thoughtful and caring man who takes his role on the ATP World Tour’s Players’ Council very seriously and pays serious heed to players far lower down the rankings than himself. “So Rafa,” came the enquiry. “If you were Adam Helfant (ATP chief executive) what would you do about the length of the calendar?”

Nadal is clearly grateful that his playing commitments to the end of the year involve contesting this week’s Shanghai Rolex Masters, then the year ending Masters 1000 series event in Paris and finally the Barclays ATP World Tour Masters in London.

Over the past few years, there have been times when Nadal’s grasp of the English language has been almost comical and many is the time he has joined in with the merriment. But the 24 year-old was deadly serious as he gave his longest ever press conference answer in the language that is still very foreign to him.

“I always say the perfect schedule is if you have a chance to play or not to play,” said Nadal. “After the U.S. Open, I believe you can play in Asia for three weeks maximum, then the Finals, and that’s it for the season.

“You can keep having tournaments until December 31 but not the 1000 [Masters] or 500 because this can make too much difference in the points and if you want to be at the top, you have to play. But if you have the chance to choose, you were injured, you were not playing well, you didn’t play many matches, and you wanted to play 250-point tournaments for the rest of the year, you can play. If you want to stop, you can stop.”

Many have been those superstars over the years, ensconced inside the elite of the game, who don’t spend too much time thinking about the needs and requirements of those not so talented, cosseted or in demand in themselves. Nadal is clearly hugely different.

“Those outside the top ten can keep playing for money and for points,” he said. “Everybody thinks similar to me, that it is a good solution but this is not really for me, [Roger] Federer or [Novak] Djokovic. This is for the next generation because if we make these changes, it will not make a big difference to our careers.”

Topics: Atp Tour, Atp World Tour, Barclays, Chief Executive, Commitments, Cosseted, December 31, Elite Game, English Language, Enquiry, Grasp, Heed, Helfant, Merriment, Rafael Nadal, Rolex, Shanghai, Statesman, Superstars, Tweaking