<p>ROME — Rafael Nadal joined the growing number of tennis players expressing doubts about competing in the Tokyo Olympics.</p>
<p>The third-ranked Nadal, in Rome for the Italian Open, said Tuesday that his status for the Tokyo games is uncertain.</p>
<p>"I don’t know yet. Honestly, I can’t give you a clear answer because I don’t know,” Nadal said when asked whether he would be at the rescheduled Olympics. "I don’t know my calendar.</p>
<p>"In a normal world, I will never see about missing Olympics, of course. Is no doubt about that. Everybody knows how important have been for me (to) always play Olympics.”</p>
<p>The Tokyo Olympics were postponed from 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.</p>
<p>“Under these circumstances, I don’t know. Let’s see what’s going on in the next couple of months. But I need to organize my schedule," the 34-year-old Spaniard continued. "My schedule in a normal year, I normally know my schedule almost 100% since 1st of January till the end of the season.</p>
<p>"This year is something a little bit different, no? We need to be flexible. We need to adapt about the things that are happening.”</p>
<p>Nadal won the singles gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and claimed gold in doubles five years ago at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.</p>
<p>Nadal is attempting to win a 10th Italian Open to complete his buildup for a 14th French Open trophy.</p>
<p>He is the latest top tennis player to voice his uncertainty about the games, which open July 23.</p>
<p>Four-time champion <a href="https://apnews.com/article/serena-williams-french-open-australian-open-tennis-sports-4ee95ce3800f5259b1c6825bcc863483">Serena Williams suggested</a> she won’t go to Japan if coronavirus protocols mean she can’t bring her 3-year-old daughter, while Japanese tennis players <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tokyo-olympic-games-health-coronavirus-pandemic-tennis-7d3608f0601c058599c120d63c8ea04b">Kei Nishikori and Naomi Osaka have raised concerns</a> about whether the games should even go ahead at all.</p>
<p>“Of course I would say I want the Olympics to happen, because I’m an athlete and that’s sort of what I’ve been waiting for my entire life,” <a href="https://apnews.com/article/osaka-tokyo-health-coronavirus-pandemic-olympic-games-40e75382a1d5a278e13e3a8acd41bb5d">Osaka said</a>. "But I think that there’s so much important stuff going on, and especially the past year."</p>
<p>Japan has attributed 11,000 deaths to COVID-19, better than many countries, but poor for Asia. The virus and its spreading variants are taxing Japan’s health-care system with only 2% of the population vaccinated.</p>
<p>Public sentiment in Japan continues to run against holding the Olympics in the middle of a pandemic. Between 60-80% of Japanese people in polls have said the Olympics should be canceled or postponed.</p>
<p>But local organizers and the International Olympic Committee insist the games will open as planned.</p>
<hr />
<p>More AP Olympics: <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/olympic-games">https://apnews.com/hub/olympic-games</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/AP_Sports">https://twitter.com/AP_Sports</a></p>
