Toni Nadal Reveals Rafa’s Interesting Mentality

Rafael Nadal may have lost out on the no. 1 ranking to eternal rival, Roger Federer in the past week but his uncle and former coach, Toni feels that he does not care about his rankings anymore.

Nadal had been coached for a long time by his uncle and he has a fair idea of the thought-process of the injury-prone French Open record holder. Toni was speaking over conference call to Spanish newspaper, Mundo Deportivo.

He said, “He won’t do anything to fight for the no.1. This is not his goal, this is not his fight at all.”

“It is not like when he was younger when he was a little more than 20 years and was playing one more tournament. He will do what he believes is the best for his body, he will play tournaments that he decides to play well.”

“In the end, sometimes an extra effort can be good in the short-term, but not for the long-term. One day Rafa told me that me that his goal is not to go behind the no.1, but if it happens, perfect”, he added.

Since parting ways with Rafael Nadal, Toni has busied himself with other commitments. He currently serves as the tournament director for the WTA Mallorca Open in his and Nadal’s hometown.

Meanwhile, Nadal and Federer have shown no signs of slowing down. They have been exchanging the World No.1 ranking despite facing stiff competition from the likes of Thiem and Zverev.

The new age of tennis players have just not been able to figure out how to beat the veterans. Though they have limited their playing time in recent years, the Grand Slams are still experiencing a duopoly between the two.

Djokovic and Wawrinka have had their fair share of injury-related issues which has helped them in their bid to win more Slams.