Nadal’s career could not be explained without talking about the figure of his uncle, Toni Nadalwho has been in charge of directing the manacorí during much of his successes. Toni was with Rafa since he was very young and he was in charge of polishing many of the aspects of his game, for example his forehand, one of the most feared in the entire circuit, due to the weight he carries and the ease with which he finds impossible angles.
But without a doubt, if Toni achieved anything during the more than 15 years he was with his nephew, it was instilling in him the fighting spirit, never giving up and fighting for the game regardless of the conditions of the track or the pain he might have. Rafa during the meetings. Nadal’s head is something unrepeatable and that is largely thanks to his uncle Toniwhich always made the winner of 22 majors see that with work and sacrifice he could go very far.
Moyá gives him renewed energy
In 2017, Rafa began to have Charly Moyá in his boxthe former world number one gave Nadal the experience of an elite player who had already finished his career and also managed to change some aspects of his game, especially the service. Since the man from Manacorí has been working with Moyá, his power to serve has increased by introducing a change in his racket, putting a little more weight in the front of it, to achieve more ball speed. Moyá learned this from the Canadian Milos Raonic, with whom he worked years ago and who is considered one of the best servers in the world.
Also had a lot of impact on Nadal’s backhandwith the parallel plane to get more winners and on his backhand cut to slow down the ball and replace with that defensive blow the loss of leg power that Rafa has suffered due to age and injuries.
This year one of his best friends on the circuit has joined his team, the Catalan Marc Lopezwho retired this year at the Masters 1000 in Madrid and with whom won an Olympic gold at the Rio 2016 Games. With Marc, in addition to traveling with a friend with whom he can spend free time and enjoy time off the track more, Rafa has improved his game on the net. Now Nadal uses the serve a lot and volleys in times of trouble, and upload more to the network than it did in its early years. Thanks to this, the Spaniard manages to shorten the points and wear himself out less physically, this type of strategy has also been adopted lately by Novak Djokovic.
Carlos Moyá, Francis Roig and Marc López, in a Roland Garros 2022 match
These network gaming characteristics have also been inculcated Francis Roig, a former tennis player who is also an expert in the doubles modality and who has been an essential part of Nadal’s team since 2005. To the coaches we must also add the essential work of Joan Forcades, his physical trainer, who although he never accompanies him to any tournament, is in charge of ensuring that at 36 years old, Nadal’s physique remains the same as always. Forcades was also Moyá’s physical trainer.
Another essential part of Rafa’s team is undoubtedly his medical team, made up of Angel Ruiz Cotorrowho travels with him to the big tournaments as a member of the Spanish Tennis Federation, and his physiotherapist, Rafael Maymówho makes Nadal be in the best conditions before and after the matches.
The full team at the US Open
Nadal will have his entire team for the last Grand Slam of this season. The normal thing is that his wife Xisca Perelló travels with him – she is currently admitted to a hospital in Palma de Mallorca in her seventh month of pregnancy, so she is not expected to travel for this tournament – her sister Maribel and the father of she. The Balearic tennis player will look for your major number 23 in his attempt to put more distance with his immediate pursuer, Novak Djokovic, and reach number one in the ATP ranking again.
