By Frank Dalleres
Rafael Nadal is being denied a potential farewell at the Paris 2024 Olympics by inflexible International Tennis Federation rules that need changing, says one of the sport’s leading chiefs.
Nadal, 37, has announced that he plans to retire next year and it is understood that the King of Clay had hoped to bow out on the red courts of Roland Garros, where the Paris 2024 tennis competition will be held — and site of his record 14 French Open titles.
But under current ITF rules he is forbidden from entering because he will not have played in the last two editions of the Davis Cup.
“That is the rule. Why do we make it so difficult?” Dietloff von Arnim, the president of the German tennis federation, told City A.M. in an interview published today.
“Rafa is thinking about playing in Paris. Make it easy for them to play there. They want to play. We have to change the rules. I’m not sitting on the board or the Olympic committee but I think we should discuss it.”
Nadal won Olympic gold in Beijing in 2008 and finished fourth in Rio in 2016 but did not play in Tokyo three years ago.
Competing in Paris would allow the Spaniard to bid farewell to the sport in his favoured arena of Roland Garros, where he has won the bulk of his 22 Grand Slam titles.
Von Arnim is standing against incumbent David Haggerty in the ITF’s presidential elections later this year and says he would seek to change the rules to allow Nadal to play the Olympics.
He also wants to see the Olympic tennis competitions recognised with ranking points, having been buttonholed on the issue by Tokyo 2020 men’s gold medallist Alexander Zverev.
“If I can still do so I would surely do it, and think about points for the Olympics, because I think from the players point of view it’s not fair,” he added.
“We should make it easy for the players to play and take the obstacles away. Let them play, make it easy for them. We have to make all of our decisions understandable to the players and support their point of view.
“Sascha [Zverev] came to me and said ‘can you please explain to me why I did not get points at the Olympics?’. I think it’s so important that tennis is played at the Olympics. The players love it, we love it for the promotion of the game.
“But why did Sascha not get points? Why don’t we do that? We are the ITF, we have to talk to the ATP [men’s tour], and let’s make a fair adjustment that players get points. Sascha was not happy at all.”
