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After 11 years without any change in his team, it´s revolution time for Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard player, who added Carlos Moya in his team two months ago, won´t work with his uncle Toni anymore. It was Toni himself to reveal it in an exclusive interview to Il Tennis Italiano. ´By next year I won´t follow Rafael on the Tour anymore, but I will work only in our academy. I want to take care of the formation of young talents, which is the most important moment in a tennis player´s growth. The relationship with my nephew has always been good, over all these years we never had any to argue about. But until he was 17 I decided everything, then the agent Carlos Costa came, his father got closer and everybody had his own opinion. And the truth is that every year I decide even less, until the point that I won´t decide anything anymore! I travelled with Rafa for many years, now I want to deal with the training of the young people and our academy is the ideal place.´



Toni also added that Francisco Roig and Moya should remain in his team, 'unless Rafa will add some other.'

Interviewed by L'Equipe to Toni spoke about the Australian Open final lost to Roger Federer 6/3 in the fifth set. Toni was aware it wouldn't have been an easy match since the beginning of the tournament. 'When I watched his matches against Berdych, Nishikori, and Wawrinka, I told myself countering him would be very complicated. And really, he went at us very quickly and resisting his game was difficult. It's also true that his backhand was incredible at the end of the tournament. I see two reasons for that. Fist of all, Federer experienced a very inspiring week: he missed a lot less than normal, and he stuck firmly to his decision to hit the ball flatter. And then, I don't know if the surface was as fast as many have said, but playing at night favoured Federer, because the ball doesn't bounce as high and it was easier for him to anticipate. Extreme top spin just wasn't possible. But in any case, on the whole, his level was very high.'



And what about Rafael Nadal's level? 'Rafael recovered his game. He had a good tournament, he had a good attitude, and played matches that were not bad against Dimitrov, Monfils and Raonic. I think really Rafael was very close to his top level, both mentally and game-wise.'

Was it the best Nadal we've seen in the last three seasons? 'It doesn't seem so simple to me. Don't forget, Rafael went into Roland Garros last year feeling excellent. There was just this little niggle [left wrist] that was bothering us, and which forced us to withdraw after two rounds and then ruined the end of the season.'

How does he explain that he's rediscovered his best tennis at the beginning of this season? 'For the first time in a very, very long while, Rafael has no physical worries to manage. As soon as we started preparing for the 2017 season, in November in Manacor, his feelings hitting were very good. Peace of mind counts for so much!



Toni added: 'Rafael has been stressed for several years because of his physical problems. At some point, you can't deliver with everything you have on the court, you can't have the ideal attitude in training, you lose self-confidence too much. When your shots depend on the state of your hand, your knee, your foot, at some point having to manage all those pains tires you out. They sap your strength. It's the head above all. It determines everything, it allows you to develop your game. If it's not ticking properly up there, everything becomes very difficult. And suddenly, as soon as Rafael could play without pain, he quickly recovered a good level. And what's more, we were reinforced by the addition of Carlos Moya, who also was a real plus.'

The uncle and coach of the former World No. 1 will step down at the end of the season
After a long and successful career together, Toni Nadal will no longer coach Rafael Nadal from 2018. The Spaniard will step down knowing his nephew is in good hands and will complete the remainder of the season alongside his charge.
“When we travelled to Australia I had made the decision already”, Toni Nadal told the Spanish newspaper, El Español. “I have been thinking lately that it’s getting tougher and tougher. I told my wife the decision. Now I have the chance to be a coach in the [Rafa Nadal] Academy, something that makes me very happy. Rafael will be perfectly attended by Carlos Moyà.
“When we left Melbourne I didn’t say it to Rafael but I say goodbye to everybody because I knew it was my last time. I said goodbye to the driver, the person who always has looked after us there, the tournament director.”
Toni said the decision was primarily related to the draining life of constant travel, the desire to spend more time with his family and also the excitement of having a permanent role at the academy in Manacor, where future tennis stars would be trained.
“I have been thinking this thoroughly. It’s the right time to do it,” he said. “I know how old I am, the years and years I have been travelling around the world and the tension and stress that competition produces.
“Now I am really excited to be in the academy. I step down, but [Rafael] is in good hands. Now I am going to make the most of this 2017.
“It has been a very long journey, loads of seasons. If instead of my nephew, I had coached somebody else, I would have stepped down much earlier.”
Toni said he would always be ready to give a hand when needed, even though Carlos Moyà and Francis Roig will now take the reins.
“Let’s imagine a scenario where Moyà is not available in 2018 for a few tournaments. And my nephew asks me to help him,” Toni said. “I’ll do it for sure and I’ll enjoy it. My intention is to work at the academy and if they need me, I’ll be there.”

Rafael Nadal has only a couple of years left on the ATP Tour according to his coach Carlos Moya.

Moya, who recently joined Nadal's coaching team in December 2016, has seen his arrival coincide with an improvement in the Spaniard's form after injury struggles in the previous two years.

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Nadal reached the quarter-finals of the Brisbane Open, the finals of the 2017 Australian Open and recently lost out to Sam Querrey in the final of the Mexican Open in Acapulco on 5 March.

Despite the losses, the 30-year-old has clearly been performing better, having seen his world ranking improve to six after starting the calendar year as world number nine.

While Moya believes it will be hard for the 14-time Grand Slam winner to emulate his past results, he still believes Nadal can challenge for top honours.

"It will be almost impossible to equal the results he had in the past," Moya said as quoted on TennisWorldUSA. "But on the other side, I am next to a player who won many Grand Slam titles and who was World No. 1. It makes your job easier. A good coach always needs a good player to do well, and from this point of view with Rafa, it's easier."

"Me and his team try to transfer him our ideas, we want the best for him. He started well the year and we think that he is back or is on the way to be at his best level that can allow him to compete for everything.

"This is our goal. I am convinced that Rafa is doing well physically, he is willing and excited. I think that Rafael Nadal will be there for a while."

Moya, who previously coached Milos Raonic, went on to add that expectations are different for both players given the stages they are at in their respective careers.

"Raonic is in full swing and is trying to find his game," he added. "The other one [Nadal] is a player who won everything and that has 3-4-5 years left and who did a little bit bad in the last two years."

"Expectations are different, nor more nor less, but are different. The coach needs to suit to the player's condition and that's what I am trying to do."

As we head into the clay court season, the focus now turns to game style as we look towards the French Open. Given the quality of the tennis that we have seen from Roger and Rafa this year, you’ve got to say that they are favourites for the next two Majors: Rafa at Roland Garros and Roger at Wimbledon.

There are going to be heaps of players who have something to say about that – in particular Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic – but we haven’t seen Roger and Rafa play this standard of tennis for five years; maybe even longer.

When you look at Rafa in isolation, he has been in a building phase.

If we go back 12 months he had issues with injuries and withdrawals. Now he’s getting consistency with his body. He’s found power, pace and aggression in his game, whereas before he was tentative and was struggling with confidence. Those aspects of the game are now approaching the quality that we all saw when he dominated tennis; when he won his Majors on clay (and let’s not forget on grass or hard court).

When his level started to drop, it did so on grass first, and then on hard court. Later, because of injuries, it started to impact the clay court too.

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But if you look at the last six months, it has been a consistent, steady build. He’ll be disappointed to have lost to Roger, but that will also be a fuel and a motivation for him.

And when I look at the coming clay court season, who is going to beat Rafa on that surface? Nishikori might give him a tough match; Ferrer won’t beat him; and there’s Novak and Andy. When you put Rafa on the grass at Wimbledon, there’s an Isner, a Querrey or even a Dustin Brown, plus all of these variables that make it a scary proposition. That isn’t the case on clay. It’s going to have to be someone of extraordinary ability to push him out of the tournament – perhaps more so than ever before.

In this form, I can see him having some tough battles, but I can’t see him being beaten. The only one who might possibly be able to really challenge him is Stan. He is the dark horse amongst that group who has the ability to overpower them all – to really scare them. Overall, though, Rafa has to be the favourite on that surface.

I just want to say a quick word on Novak and Andy.

If Novak is in the right headspace then he can definitely do damage. But he’s not. Look at the tweet that Boris sent last week:


That is a real indication of what the other former greats are watching. What Boris is saying here is: ‘you’ve fallen off the pace – this is your opportunity to start chasing again’.

And we’ve got to find out whether Murray can get himself back into the picture. He had a bad week at Indian Wells, he pulled out of Miami and he needed a rest. He needed to recharge because the end of last season was so massive. I think it’s going to be intriguing to watch him in the coming tournaments to see where his form is at – will he be passive or will he step in and take more controlled risks? That will all depend on how mentally fresh he is feeling.

Even though Murray is No.1 in the world, I think that he’s going to struggle to hold onto that given the charge of Roger and Rafa. On clay there has been no better player than Rafa, on any other surface Roger owns that title. The top two in the world are now being chased down by two of the sports’ greatest.

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Ten sezon jest powrotem hiszpańskiego tenisisty do świetnej formy. Rafael Nadal w styczniu był w finale Australian Open. Potem także odniósł kilka dobrych wyników. - Myliłem się w jego ocenie. Nie sądziłem, że będzie tak grał - powiedział były najlepszy zawodnik świata.

W poprzednim sezonie przez wiele miesięcy Nadal zmagał się z kontuzją lewego nadgarstka. Wcześniej także miał problemy z dobrą dyspozycją.

- Nadal wytrwał bardzo dużo. Wielu ludzi spisało go już na straty - mówi były lider rankingu ATP. - Nie wierzyłem, że przy takim wyczerpaniu fizycznym, jakie przeżył przez całą karierę, przy takim stylu gry, będzie w stanie wrócić na tak wysoki poziom. Bez wątpienia udowodnił, że się myliłem. Jego spotkanie w finale Australian Open z Rogerem Federerem było piękne. To był mecz, w którym nikt nie zasługiwał na porażkę.

Agassi wypowiedział się także na temat Novaka Djokovicia. Serbski zawodnik w poprzednim sezonie wygrał Rolanda Garrosa, a potem kompletnie stracił formę. Spadł także z pierwszej pozycji w rankingu.

- Bez wątpienia to była kwestia fizyczna. Nie traci się tak szybko formy, gdyby nie jakaś poważna sprawa. To może być połączenie spraw emocjonalnych, mentalnych, coś musiało być innego niż się dowiedzieliśmy. Pewnie wie to jego zespół. Myślę, że Novak jest na dobrej drodze, aby znaleźć odpowiednie rozwiązanie tej sytuacji. Musi znaleźć wyjście patrząc na to, co działo się w przeszłości. Sądzę, że Djoković zrozumiał, jak trudna jest kariera zawodnika i całe życie, gdy coś zaczyna szwankować. Wcześniej zmiatał wszystkich z kortu, a teraz jest inaczej - dodawał były amerykański mistrz.