October

Nadal, Djokovic Still Unsure about Playing Saudi Arabia Exhibition


Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are taking a wait and see approach to their scheduled exhibition in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on December 22nd. Saudi Arabia has faced criticism following the recent death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government who was killed at the country’s consulate in Istanbul in October.There has been a great deal of heated debate on social media and in the press about the appearance, and the two stars addressed the public for the first time since Khashoggi’s death on Sunday in Paris. Both players told reporters that their teams are working to know more about the situation and looking for some clarity.As of yet, the players have not opted to cancel.

“Of course I’m aware of all the situation,” Nadal told reporters on Sunday. “But I had a commitment since one year ago to play there. And my team is talking to them, to analyze the things. That’s it. As you know, when these kind of things happens and it’s terrible that one journalist lost the life. I know something happened very bad inside there. So we are looking about how evolves the situation and I hope the things will clarify as soon as possible.”Djokovic says he prefers to avoid political discussion, but did seem to hint that his appearance is not guaranteed.“I personally always try to be very apolitical,” he said. “I don’t like to involve myself in any political exchange or situations. And it’s unfortunate that we are both drawn into this right now. All I can say is that we have the commitment with them for over a year, actually last year when we were discussing this potential matchup, we agreed that it’s going to happen in December as a kind of a lead-up to the beginning of the season. And it was my professional tennis decision to do that.”Tecnifibre T-FightDjokovic echoed Nadal’s sentiments about the unfortunate nature of Khashoggi’s death, and like Nadal he didn’t give any insight into what exactly his team is trying to determine from Saudi officials.“Of course I know, I’m aware of what’s happening, and it’s sad, of course,” he said. “I mean, it’s the only thing that you can feel when you see something like that and when you hear something like that. But I can’t say more than that. My team right now is in touch with the people in Saudi Arabia as well as Rafa’s and of course we are all talking to understand the situation better. Because right now we just don’t have obviously enough information, and we have to look into that a bit more and then we’ll make our decision soon.”Saudi Arabia has taken steps to increase its sporting portfolio this season. The Kingdom hosted a friendly football match between Argentina and Brazil in October. Having Nadal and Djokovic, two of the sports’ biggest names, would be a boon.The event is named after Saudi King Salman.
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Chris Oddo

Chris Oddo is a freelance sportswriter, podcaster, blogger and social media marker who is a lead contributor to Tennisnow.com. He also writes for USOpen.org, Rolandgarros.com, BNPParibasOpen.com, TennisTV.com, WTAtennis.com and the official US Open program.

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