According to Toni Nadal, the present version of Novak Djokovic is “well below” the level than he held “five or ten years ago.”
The top coach thinks the level displayed by the majority of top players today – apart from Djokovic and Alcaraz – is disappointing. Toni who has coached his nephew Rafael Nadal from an early age to 2017 guided him to win 16 of his 22 GS trophies. The 62-year old is now working with #15 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime since 2021.
Djokovic is enjoying a very successful seasons at majors level as he clinched Australian Open and French Open titles before reaching the final at SW19 where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in a five set epic.
One ahead of Toni’s nephew Nadal in Grand Slam race, the Serb is just two wins away from extending his GS tally to 24 to further the gap between his eternal Spaniard rival. The 36-year will face #9 seed Taylor Fritz in the quarters at Arthur Ashe and will usurp Carlos Alcaraz to regain the top spot – regardless of the results – after the end of the season-ending slam.
Talking to Spanish media El Pais, Uncle Toni stated that elites of the past at the ATP tour were stronger than the current crop of top players.
“We have placed Roger Federer and Alcaraz as the two leaders of yesteryear and today. The rest of the panorama that has been revealed to us has given a fairly clear advantage in favour of those of the previous decade,” said the veteran coach from Mallorca.
“The top tennis players of a few years ago were better than those of today. I think that it is most likely so. That before the players were noticeably better and much more competitive than those of the present moment.
“The current Djokovic is well below that of five or ten years ago. Without a doubt, Nadal would surpass [Daniil] Medvedev, [Andy] Murray would be better than [Alexander] Zverev, and [Stan] Wawrinka better than [Casper] Ruud. [Juan Martin] Del Potro would also beat [Andrey] Rublev, and [David] Ferrer the same with [Holger] Rune.
“I am surprised by the general lack of consistency and regularity. With the exception of Djokovic and Alcaraz, the level offered by the majority is disappointing.”
The Spaniard believes preferring power and hard-hitting over precision could be a reason for these outcomes, while adding that this makes the game too bland to watch.
“Current tennis is much more focused on hitting the ball very hard to the detriment of giving it control and this, of course, makes it very difficult to make a difference, but also to see beautiful matches,” added Mallorcan.