Toni Nadal has full faith in a health Rafael Nadal at the 2024 Roland Garros as his former World No. 1 nephew returns to action at the Brisbane International in late December.
Sharing the insights into his much awaited comeback, Toni believes Nadal “still has the same determination” and has the chance to do wonders at French Open despite not having the same legs “as they were 10 years ago.”
Toni who worked with his legendary nephew from his childhood until 2017, guided him to win 16 of his 22 major titles. After stepping aside from the coaching responsibilities, Toni has assumed the charge of the Rafa Nadal Academy director while also joining forces with current world No. 29 Felix Auger-Aliassime since 2021.
Nadal recently announced that he would be returning to the action at the Brisbane International tournament in January ahead of season-opening Grand Slam in Melbourne.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion has not played since hurting his hip flexor muscle in R2 loss against Mackenzie MacDonald at the 2023 Australian Open in January. After undergoing surgery on the issue in June, Nadal initial recovery period was estimated to be between six to eight weeks however, he was forced to postpone his planned comeback and missed the whole clay-court season, European grass swing and all of North American hardcourt swing. Because of the unhealed hip muscle, Nadal missed the Roland Garros for the first time since 2004
The 37-year-old who earlier in June announced 2024 would likely be his farewell tour of his career won, his last major at the 2022 French Open to seal his record-extending 14th title on the Parisian clay.
Talking to RMCradio’s Bartoli Time programme, Toni asserted that his great nephew still has chances to compete at the biggest stages of game and succeed at Roland Garros.
“Rafael is doing well. He’s back in training with good intensity, with the most important thing being the [dream] of playing the French Open again. I don’t think he’s thought about retiring, for one simple reason, which he’s told me many times,” the 62-year-old said.
“He doesn’t want to retire with the feeling of being injured. What he dreams of is having a good year, trying to play at a very high level again. He knows it’s going to be very difficult, because every year it gets harder and harder.
“But his dream is to try to be here again, especially to play in Paris again. If his body is fine, he thinks he’ll have the chance to do really great things at Roland Garros.”
The renowned coach also discussed the gains Nadal has been making in training in recent weeks and expects his level to improve with the more play he gets.
“His movement wasn’t very good at first but over the last three weeks he’s been training at a good level. The important thing is not to try to win, but to have the feeling of playing well,” Nadal continued.
“He has the will to still be here, he loves tennis, he loves competition, he loves the game. It’s his dream to play the tournaments he loves one last time.
“The more he plays, the more competitive he will be. We know that his legs aren’t the same as they were 10 years ago, but in his head nothing has changed. He still has the same determination.”