PARIS: Multiple Grand Slam champion Chris Evert feels players who have been around the sport for a long time like Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will ‘dive right into it’ when tennis resumes post the COVID-19 pandemic as they know time is not on their side.
All tennis is currently on hold due to the health crisis which has gripped the entire world.
“I have a sneaky suspicion that the players that have been around for a long time, especially Serena (Williams), Roger, Rafa, I think they’re going to dive right into it,” Evert said on French Open’s official website on Episode 11 of ‘Chatting with Daniela’.
“They’re appreciating that they can be with their family. They’re appreciating that they can rest their bodies. But they also know that time is not on their side,” said the 18-time Grand Slam champion.
Evert also opined that it will be interesting to see if current world No.1 Novak Djokovic could regain his momentum.
“I feel bad for Novak. He had the momentum,” she said.
“Everyone was saying, �Is he going to win a Grand Slam? Is he going to win four in a row? He was playing awesome tennis and then all of a sudden (season stopped). He’ll be an interesting story to see if he can get that momentum back.”
Djokovic recently announced that he is hosting a tennis tournament across the Balkan countries starting on June 13. The ‘Adria Tour’ will start in Belgrade in Djokovic’s home country of Serbia.
The tour starts on June 13 and 14 in Belgrade followed by matches in Zadar, Croatia on June 20 and 21. This will be followed by matches in Montenegro on June 27 and 28 and the tour ends in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 3 and 4.