Deadly attacks such as those inflicted on Monday in Belgium have become part of the new normal for athletes whose travels to make money can put them in jeopardy.
“It’s just a really dangerous time in the world right now,” women’s tennis world number one Serena Williams said on Tuesday. “You can be anywhere in the world and something can happen… We should all have to be kind of on alert. No city is safe at this point. You have to be alert.”
The 21-time Grand Slam singles champion, top seed for the ATP and WTA Miami Open, said people cannot just set aside the tragedy but must be attentive for those with bad intentions as well as mourn for the dead and injured. “You just have to pray for the people involved and their families,” she added.
Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber of Germany called the attacks “really sad and terrible” and noted how tough it is to shake off the effects of such bombings and continue on with the life of a global travelling tennis star.
“Sometimes you are thinking you travel every week,” Kerber said. “Sometimes it seems hard. But at the end, you have no choice.”
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic said that she refuses to surrender to fear. “We can’t (worry). We can’t do anything about that,” Kvitova said. “It’s very sad news to wake up to. As a European, it’s tough. When they open the border, it’s hard to close it again. I think people could be nicer… Maybe one day.”
Swiss two-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka says terrorist incidents also make it harder to leave home for the next event.
“When you travel you have to put that aside but for sure that’s a tough way to travel,” Wawrinka said. “It’s really sad what has happened. When you say that, it’s sad for all the people and families and friends. It’s tough.”
Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska says sometimes things that happen far away leave the most unnerving impression. “Those kind of things happen far from us, they are always scary,” she said.
Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro takes inspiration from such tragedy to make sure she lives each day to the fullest, knowing the next is never guaranteed.
“It’s sad to hear about the events in Brussels. You never know what is going to happen,” she said. “We have to enjoy the life because you never know what’s going to come.”

Belgian golfer Pieters stunned by Brussels blasts
Belgian golfer Thomas Pieters expressed shock at the bloody bombings on his homeland as he prepared for the WGC Dell Match Play in Texas, vowing not to let the attacks affect his lifestyle.  
Pieters, ranked 56th in the world, is the lone Belgian in the 64-strong field for the $9.5 million tournament at Austin Country Club. The 24-year-old awoke to headlines detailing the carnage in Brussels, where bombings at an airport and metro station left around 35 people dead and injured dozens more.  
“It was just one of the worst days to wake up,” a shocked Pieters said. “Even when it happened in Paris, it’s close, but it’s not right near your people. And then now it happens to somewhere I go almost every time I fly out. It’s shocking to see the images and videos. It’s a sad day.”  
Pieters agreed that the horror of the attacks put his life as a professional sportsman into perspective. “I’m not going to moan this week, that’s for sure. It’s just tough to understand—I just don’t get it. So many innocent people,” he said.
Pieters said he was still waiting to confirm the whereabouts of a friend who had been traveling on the metro at the time of the attacks. “He hasn’t been in contact, so it’s still a nervous time,” the golfer said. “But we’ve heard that there’s still a lot of people just stuck in the metro, because there was only one exit to get out. Hopefully, he just comes out there.”  
Pieters admitted that deadly attacks targeting civilians in Europe in recent months, such as last November’s strikes on Paris claimed by the Islamic State group, had preyed on his mind occasionally.
“I’m not scared to fly, but it does cross your mind sometimes,” Pieters said. “But I think you can’t live with fear. So I’m not going to change the way I fly or anywhere I go. If you’re at the bad place at the bad time, then those guys win. But I don’t think you should change the way you travel.”
Pieters is grouped with in-form Australian veteran Adam Scott, Bill Haas of the United States and England’s Chris Wood in his round-robin group.  
World number one Jordan Spieth, meanwhile, said he had no immediate plans to change his calendar in the wake of the attacks in Belgium but admitted the bombings could conceivably give him pause for thought.  
Asked whether the bombings could affect his travel plans, Spieth replied: “I don’t have many plans, at least in the upcoming six months, other than The Open Championship and hopefully the Olympics. I’m not sure after that.”  
The 22-year-old Texan acknowledged however that the attacks had left him feeling uneasy.
“I woke up, and it was sickening that that kind of stuff happens,” Spieth said. “I don’t know if that changes my strategy on things. It’s a bit early in the season for me to tell, because that’s normally what we look at later in the year. But it makes you feel a bit uneasy, doesn’t it? It may, in fact, kind of call you off of or at least hesitate a bit more on decisions like that.”