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Thursday, March 28, 2024

‘Having the energy to do what Rafael Nadal…’, says top coach

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Rafael Nadal wowed everyone in the first six months of 2022. The Spanish champion, who took part in just seven official tournaments last year, returned in style by winning the Australian Open against all odds. The former world number 1 rallied Daniil Medvedev in two sets in the final, after surviving two real battles against Denis Shapovalov and Matteo Berrettini.

The 36-year-old from Manacor was again limited by physical problems in the following months, unable to play as and as much as he would have wanted before Roland Garros. Arriving in Paris with a thousand doubts, the Iberian has achieved the umpteenth feat of his legendary career.

Rafa thus hoisted himself to 22 Majors, further stretching Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the all-time ranking. The Majorcan needed a series of infiltrations to be able to take the field, also sparking some controversy.

During a long interview with ‘Sport.es’, Francisco Roig admitted that he was amazed by Nadal’s start to the season.

Roig praises Rafa Nadal

“Having the energy to do what Rafael Nadal has done is very difficult.

He needs that energy. After Roland Garros, which was a tough, tough, tough tournament, he had a few days off to reconnect mentally with another Grand Slam he, we can’t fool ourselves, he’s coming to win,” Roig said.

“Then maybe he does a few semis and has played well, and he’s happy with himself, but he is who he is and he always tries to win,” he added. At the same time, he admitted that it has been difficult for Nadal to adapt to the grass courts after a three-year gap.

“He hasn’t played here for three years and the memory and the feeling that you have from one year to the next is fundamental, because you retain something. It always costs you a bit, but if you’ve played the previous year and the others, that helps in adaptation,” Roig explained.

Former French tennis star and a widely known analyst Marion Bartoli believes the Spaniard could win his third Wimbledon title. Given his form, the former Wimbledon champion says no one should write off Rafael Nadal. Recalling how he surprised everyone with his performance in the Australian Open and French Open, she said.

“At the Australian Open, when he was coming back from injury, none of us gave Nadal a chance there. At Roland-Garros, with everything that happened at Rome, none of us gave him a chance there. I do not want to write him off because he is definitely going to surprise us”.

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