Royal Spanish Tennis Federation (RFET) has announced that it is mulling over the possibility of organizing a domestic men’s tour which will help in keeping country’s top players in a position to build match fitness.
Leading Spanish publication, Marca reported on Saturday, April 4, that RFET sporting vice-president Tomas Carbonell, had stated that plans were in the works for between eight and 10 tournaments to take place at clubs and academies in Spain.
The tournaments would feature the country’s leading players, open to those in the top 100 of the ATP rankings.
World number two, Nadal, who falls into this category of players, on Saturday released an Instagram video showing how he and sister Maria Isabel are passing the time during lockdown, playing patio tennis over a couple of garden chairs.
All ATP and WTA tournaments have been called off until mid-July, with Wimbledon cancelled, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The French Open has been controversially postponed from May until late September, starting just a week after the US Open wraps up.
Nadal has triumphed a record 12 times at Roland Garros and would not want to go to Paris short of match practice, which may mean domestic competition could appeal to the 19-time grand slam winner.
Spain’s next-highest ranked men’s player is world number 12 Roberto Bautista Agut, followed by Pablo Carreno Busta (25) and Albert Ramos-Vinolas (41).
Marca reports the prospect of a Spanish tour would hinge on the mid-season hard-court swing, including the US Open, being cancelled.
