Madrid (AFP)

The 2020 tennis season is "practically lost" according to the world N.2 Rafael Nadal, who has the impression of "wasting a year" because of the coronavirus pandemic, he told Spanish daily ABC and Tuesday El Pais.

"If you give me a document saying that a normal season will start in January 2021, I will sign it without thinking," the Spaniard told ABC.

"There are a lot of personal and economic interests, the sport is moving a lot, but it will cost us to return to normal," he continued.

The season "2020 is practically lost. I hope to start next year. Hopefully," said the Mallorcan in the columns of El Pais.

"I hope to play as soon as possible," he said, explaining to ABC: "We travel every week from place to place, we are in touch with hotels, airports, places different "from the planet.

Nadal has been training again since Monday on a tennis court at a friend's house, taking advantage of the authorization given by the Spanish government to athletes to train.

"My feeling, and I say this with sadness, I will not hide it, is that we are losing a year of our life. And at 33 or 34 years old, it is much more valuable than 20 years ", for a tennis player, he said for ABC.

Nadal also expressed doubts about the new calendar, turned upside down by the pandemic and the postponement of Roland Garros to the fall, a week after the US Open: "Frankly, I think it will not happen. From the US Open at Roland Garros with a week in between ... I don't think we can play, "said the man who won twelve times at Roland Garros.

The French Grand Slam tournament, scheduled from May 24 to June 7, should take place from September 20 to October 4, just after the US Open, scheduled from August 31 to September 13.

© 2020 AFP