It's my last season with Rafa on the tour, says uncle Toni
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Toni Nadal has said that he won't be following Rafael Nadal on tour anymore after this season, and will focus on upcoming players at the Rafa Nadal Academy. He also talks about Nadal's loss to Roger Federer in the Australian Open final and how the Spaniard's injuries affected him mentally.
Rafael Nadal's uncle and long-time coach Toni Nadal has revealed that the current season will be his last on the tour. Toni, who has been by Rafa's side since his childhood was joined by another Spaniard Carlos Moya on Rafa's team last year. He also said that he will focus more on grooming new players at his nephew's tennis academy in Mallorca.
"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
Talking about Rafa's loss at the Australian Open final to Roger Federer, Toni said that he always knew it won't be an easy match. In a statement that might not go down well with Federer fans, he also said that playing at night gave Federer an advantage.
"When I watched his (Federer's) 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."
"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," he added.
Toni added that Nadal's problems with fitness over the past few years also saw him losing confidence and that affected his game aversely. The beginning of this year is the first time in many years that Nadal is not worried about his fitness, and Toni believes this is the reason behind Nadal's brilliant form at the Australian Open.
"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."
