Toni Nadal keep trusting your nephew Rafael Nadal despite the fact that he is no longer his coach and he is no longer in that day-to-day life with which he could see the physical condition of his former pupil and know how prepared he is to face the tour of the ground and be able to reign again in Roland Garros. However, in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine, Toni has commented on the options that he gives Nadal to succeed again in Paris.
In addition, who was Rafa Nadal’s coach for 27 years, has also discussed in this interview different topics of this sport, such as how hard the tennis player’s life is, the possibilities he sees for the new generations, his training model and the figure of Novak Djokovica player who in recent days is on the lips of all fans.
Logically, the highlight has been regarding the future of his nephew, heavily punished by various injuries and with the shadow of retirement increasingly present in each of his appearances, however, Toni prefers to go day by day and only look at Roland Garros 2023. “You never really know how things are going to go. It is true that Rafael has a very punished body, but it is also true that he has been on the professional circuit since he was 16 years old and that is something you pay for. There are many years hitting the ball and moving at high intensity. When you have that, it is easy for the body to fail here today and there tomorrow. I trust that he can lift the Roland Garros trophy this year, and then we’ll see, ”he commented without wanting to look further.
He also referred to the methods he used to train his nephew, since he was often accused of being too tough: “I understand hardness and demand as a means to achieve goals, if one has lofty purposes. There is no left “No choice. We live in a highly competitive world. So how do you differ from everyone else in the world of tennis? I hit the ball as hard as possible, I run as fast as possible, I concentrate at the highest level, but how do I Do I train him? If I don’t train that at a maximum level of demand, it’s very difficult for me to do it very well”.
DJOKOVIC AS TENNIS VILLAIN
This was not the only topic he dealt with during the interview, where he was also asked about Novak Djokovic, for many the antagonist of tennis, something for which Toni Nadal sees some other explanation despite his great relationship with him. “I think the problem he has had is that he broke in when there was a clear rivalry between Federer and Rafael, and people liked that matchup. I think that he never managed to be as loved as the other two, and that his behavior on the track has sometimes been a little more complicated ”.
Anyway, and going into the sporting part, for Rafa Nadal’s uncle, Djokovic is the clear favorite to end his career as the most successful player of all time, although he is aware that everything can change in a moment: “Obviously Djokovic is the one in the best disposition, because he continues to play at a very high level and has no physical problems. Apart from Australia, I also see him as the favorite to win Wimbledon. But hey, in the world of sports things change many times from one day to the next. There are moments that make you change your views. I don’t know, anyone can end up being number one in that aspect”.
Finally, Toni had time to talk about the new generations of tennis and especially about Happy Auger-Also, a player he has been advising since 2021 and with whom he tried to be very clear from the beginning to instill in him a winning mentality. “When he came to ask me for collaboration, I was quite clear and asked him what his aspiration was. He told me that his aspiration was to achieve whatever it was, and I told him: ‘That is very difficult, because the same thing that you want is also wanted by Medvedev, or Tsitsipas, so there is no choice but to go to the limit.’ Above all, I believe in preparation and in forcing yourself to do things a little better every day. That, and knowing that, even trying to do things every day day a little better, on many occasions it will not go well”, he concluded.
