After his role as the Saudi Tennis Federation’s ambassador, Rafael Nadal has no reservations about assisting gay tennis players to be welcomed into his academy.
As part of Saudi Arabia’s ‘Vision 2030’ initiative, Nadal committed last month to mentoring the country’s future tennis talents. The 22-time major champion will also open a new academy location in the nation to provide instruction and training.
The Spaniard recently spoke with Spanish radio station Cardena COPE about the details of his partnership with Saudi Arabia in light of the aforementioned news. Considering that Saudi Arabia does not protect LGBT rights, he was presented with an intriguing hypothetical scenario during the interview: would he assist in developing a homosexual emerging young player’s game in his academy?
The former world No. 1 said he couldn’t guarantee a gay tennis player’s safety in the Gulf Country, but they would have no trouble training at his academy. However, the 37-year-old did state that he hoped to help ensure that in the coming years, homosexual athletes would not face discrimination because of their gender identification.
Nadal said he wants to make a difference in Saudi Arabia so that in ten years, homosexuals won’t have any difficulties there.
Nadal said: “In my academy, he won’t have problems; in the country, I don’t know. The problem is that this happens but the reality is that I am going to try to prevent it from happening. Things cannot be changed from today to tomorrow; the objective is that this is not debated in six, eight, or ten years and that I can contribute to ensuring that it is not talked about in a few years. If it doesn’t happen, I’ll be disappointed.”
Rafael Nadal in 2024
At the moment ranked no.646, Rafael played his last match on the 5th of January when he surrendered to world no.42 Jordan Thompson 5-7 7-6(6) 6-3 in the quarter in Brisbane (draw).
This season Rafael has achieved a composed 2-1 match record.
Nadal is scheduled to play next in Doha (Qatar ExxonMobil Open). He will start from the main draw that will commence on the 19th of February.