Carlos Moya makes confession about Rafael Nadal’s condition during 2022 French Open title run
Rafael Nadal’s coach Carlos Moya has questioned whether any player in the history of tennis has won a Grand Slam title “in the conditions in which Rafa was” at the 2022 French Open.
The 1998 French Open champion, who has coached Nadal since 2016, also expressed that next year’s edition of Roland Garros is a tournament his fellow Mallorcan is “very excited about”.
Nadal will make his comeback to the tour at the Brisbane International tournament in January in preparation for the 2024 Australian Open.
The 37-year-old has not played since sustaining a hip injury in his second round loss to Mackenzie McDonald at the 2023 Australian Open in January. The former world No 1 underwent surgery to address the issue in June, having initially expected to be out for around six to eight weeks.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion was forced to postpone his planned comeback during this year’s clay-court season and missed Roland Garros for the first time since 2004.
The Spaniard won his most recent title at the 2022 French Open, where he defeated Casper Ruud in a straight-set final to claim a record-extending 14th crown.
Nadal revealed after the tournament that he had received pain-killing injections in his foot before matches and admitted his foot “was asleep” on court. Despite having to overcome this, Nadal remarkably defeated four top 10 players and lost just three sets en route to his triumph.
The tennis legend has been dealing with the chronic foot condition called Mueller-Weiss syndrome since 2005 and it proved particularly troublesome during 2021 and 2022.
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In an interview with the ATP Tour, Moya suggested the physical state Nadal was in during his run to the 2022 French Open title puts into perspective how impressive an achievement it was.
“The Roland Garros he won that year, I know the conditions in which he arrives, I know how he is in each match, I see what he has and what he does,” the Spaniard said.
“I don’t know if in the history of tennis there is any player who has won a Grand Slam in the conditions in which Rafa was at Roland Garros.
“It is clear that Roland Garros has always been his fetish tournament and in this case nothing changes. It is also clear that there are six months left, we have to see how he gets there, we have to see the games he has played, his level, his competitiveness.
“There are many unknowns that time will clear up, but it is clear that Roland Garros is a tournament that he is very excited about, like the entire clay court season, which is his favourite time of year.”
The former world No 1 also gave an insight into the preparation for Nadal’s comeback and stressed it has been a challenging process.
“And when we start and have been playing for a month and a half or two, and we see that the progression is very slow. You don’t know if it is slower than expected or not because it is the first time we were in a situation like this,” Moya explained.
“But you do see that you have your doubts, and in the player’s head there are also doubts: will the body respond? Will it be able to withstand the loads? There are many questions that arise. It hasn’t been a bed of roses, far from it. It has been a quite twisty and winding road, with many curves.”
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