Ion Tiriac – Ex-coach clears up GOAT question between Nadal, Federer and Djokovic: ‘Will always be number one’

In an interview with “Claytennis.com”, former tennis pro Ion Tiriac spoke about the physical exertion that Rafael Nadal had to take to win his 14th French Open title: “Nadal is much smarter than me, he knows his physique much better than I. He didn’t have any major problems at Roland Garros until he met Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime, who is a good tennis player.”

The Romanian was particularly impressed by the victory over world number one Novak Djokovic: “Nadal played very, very well in the match against Djokovic. To beat Djokovic, the number one in the world, in this way … Nadal will always be number one stay in the world. He can’t be compared. Not even for me with Roger Federer,” said Tiriac.

The 83-year-old also commented on the comparison between the Spaniard and his eternal rivals Djokovic and Federer. For the entrepreneur, it’s Nadal’s longevity that pushes him to another level.

“You will not see in your life or in the life of your children that someone wins a Grand Slam tournament 14 or even 15 times. Because I am sure that he will try next year,” said Tiriac.

Tiriac on Nadal: “I saw him suffer on the court”

However, the former No. 55 in the ATP world rankings recalled the Mallorcan’s foot injury and believes that Nadal needs to fully recover from the injury to continue playing at the highest level. Tiriac stressed that the 22-time Grand Slam champion uses a lot more energy on the pitch compared to his fellow players.

“He doesn’t have any other option, he can’t choose. He has to heal, he has to heal not just his foot but everything that’s broken, his entire physique. In 15 years, he’s used two or three times as much energy as Federer. When he was 16, I said he would be as good as his physique would allow,” he added.

The former coach even suggested Nadal could remain active for a long time in case of recovery. Tiriac pointed to Nadal’s first-set tiebreak comeback against Zverev in the Roland Garros semifinals as an example of how tireless the 36-year-old was.

“I’ve seen him suffer on the tennis court. He’s 6-2 down in the tie-breaker and he still doesn’t lose the set. I’ve been at Roland Garros for 60 years or more. I played the Davis Cup here in 1959. I’ve never seen a set like the second of Nadal and Zverev in the semifinals, a set in which there were nine breaks in eleven games. How is that possible? I don’t know,” Tiriac concluded.