Rafael Nadal news: Carlos Moya tells Patrick Mouratoglou to show ‘a little respect’ after Frenchman’s remarks

Tennis News
Rafael Nadal and Carlos Moya practice

Carlos Moya has sniped back at Patrick Mouratoglou after the Frenchman suggested that Rafael Nadal will not be in the best of shape by the time the French Open arrives.

Nadal spent more than five weeks on the sidelines after picking up a rib injury at the Indian Wells Open, but he made a winning return at the Madrid Open on Wednesday, easing past Miomir Kecmanovic in the second round.

The Spaniard, of course, is building towards the French Open, which gets underway on May 22, and Mouratoglou questioned whether or not Nadal will be fighting fit after missing the early part of the red dirt campaign.

“Nadal is going to play few games and it is very rare that he arrives in Paris with so few games. It will be strange for him,” Mouratoglou told French television.

“Despite his great start to the season, Nadal has always been a player who needed to play many matches. He is not going to arrive in his best shape at Roland-Garros.”

Moya, who has been part of Nadal’s coaching set-up since 2016, decided to hit back with some facts on Twitter.

“17 years in a row top 10, [winning] Roland Garros ’20 with 3 matches in 7 months, Australian Open ’22 with 3 matches in 6 months… a little respect and memory @pmouratoglou 😉,” he wrote.

Moya was referring to the fact that Nadal won only three matches on clay before going on to win the French Open in 2020 while he did the same before lifting this year’s Australian Open trophy.

Nadal insisted after his win over Kecmanovic that he was no longer in pain following his injury and has been given the all-clear by physicians.

“There are injuries that allow you to do physical work, aerobic work. The rib has not allowed me to do anything … but I’m not worried. I just think that every minute that I am out there on the court is something positive,” the Spaniard said.

“I don’t have any pain in my rib. I had a little bit of pain at the beginning of the week, and then I went to get a MRI so they could check it, Friday or Saturday when I came here, and the image on the machine was good.”

Carlos Moya Patrick Mouratoglou Rafael Nadal

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