Carlos Moya on Rafael Nadal: 'He's a survivor'
Rafael Nadal won his 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. Coach Carlos Moya has nothing but respect for his protégé's recent achievements.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Feb 03, 2022, 07:23 pm
A player's entourage is one of the most important success factors in tennis. The world's best athletes rarely save with thanks to those gentlemen who follow the game more or less passively from the box a few meters away from the field. The moments after the converted match point in the Australian Open final, the moments after Grand Slam title number 21, impressively showed how important his team is for Rafael Nadal. For seconds, the Spaniard and his team were in each other's arms before Nadal went back onto the pitch.
An essential part of this entourage: long-term coach Carlos Moya. After the Mallorcan's triumph, he spoke in particular about the suboptimal preparation for the major event Down Under: "It's clear that we didn't have the best preparation before the start of the season," said the trainer. "He was close to losing during the tournament but he kept fighting, he's a survivor, he always finds a way to come back."
Sand for Nadal's foot best
Well, as a medium-term goal, the coach has already set his sights on the French Open. The tournament that Nadal had dominated in recent years like no other player ever before. With good reason, as Moya explains: "In the past he has always been a better player on clay because his foot suffers the least on this surface." Nevertheless, one will now see week after week, especially since the reaction to the long-term foot injury of the 21-time major winner is still to be seen.
Even if Rafael Nadal is leading the race for the most Grand Slam titles since his recent triumph, the Nadal team does not want to insist on this fact, as Moya emphasizes to the French L'Equipé: "This title means a Grand Winning the Slam, whether it's number 21, number 25 or number 30. What Rafa wants is to be competitive, to stay healthy."
Team Nadal thinks little of the GOAT debate
The sheer number of majors won, so it is by no means a motivation for his protégé: "Then we will see whether he has won 25 Grand Slam tournaments in the end or how many. At the moment he is concentrating on getting the best out of himself ." Accordingly, the 35-year-old's camp doesn't want to know much about the GOAT debate, the debate about choosing the greatest tennis player of all time.
"You can never compare one player to another, I see this debate more as something for the fans," said Carlos Moya. "Right now, Rafa just wants him to keep improving and developing so he can play in the Grand Slams for many years to come," which sounds like a challenge to the all-time leaderboard of Grand Slam victories.