“We have been following what has been going on and we have discussed it”, she said, in an interview with the Belgian magazine La Derniere Heure that was published at the weekend.
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Local organiser Gijs Kooken, meanwhile, told the Flemish Tennis Federation that they had no information that the Flanders Expo site could be a terrorist target. “Of course you never can predict what will happen next, but I would be surprised if it was cancelled”.
“At this stage, I don’t think about Andy [Murray] because Andy plays very well on every surface”, Nadal said, reports Gulf News.
Tim Henman has revealed that he has scrapped plans to follow Great Britain to the Davis Cup final in Belgium amid increasing fears of a terror attack in the country.
The stadium location itself has a level three alert, and other sporting events are still scheduled.
The security level in Ghent is the same as in London, the BBC notes.
Murray goes into the event on the back of losses to Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka at the ATP World Tour Finals, but Henman expects him to lead the team to victory.
The Davis Cup finals will be closely watched as both Great Britain and Belgium have made history by reaching the finals.
However, Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association has still found time to announce that their team’s first round tie next year, at home to Japan, will be staged at the 9,000 seat Barclaycard Arena in the center of Birmingham. For Belgium, this will be its first finals in 111 years.
The ITF has admitted it is concerned by the security situation but insists that, as it stands, the final is still set to go ahead.
The only winning rubber Murray was not involved in was James Ward’s victory over the USA’s John Isner, with the Scot winning six singles matches and two doubles alongside brother Jamie. Team captain Leon Smith was also influenced by the unavailability of the actual match court at the Flanders Expo for practice.
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“You’ve got to understand all the different issues, the security that is going to be in place for the team, for the whole tie, for the spectators”. Additional security measures will be in place at all entrances to the venue and will apply to all ticket holders, staff members and visitors.
