Rafael Nadal news: Toni Nadal says days of Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic dominating may be over
Esteemed tennis coach Toni Nadal believes that the days of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic winning major tournaments could just now be a thing of the past.
The trio have dominated the ATP scene since the late 2000s.
However, with Federer now 40, Nadal 35 and Djokovic 34, it’s safe to say that they are past their prime.
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Toni’s nephew Rafael (Nadal) recently won the Australian Open which was his 21st Grand Slam victory.
“It (21) may or may not be enough. The reality is that it is increasingly difficult to win a Grand Slam because of their ages and because of the players who come from below (the next generation),” said the 60-year-old.
Toni expressed his surprise that Rafael has been able to play professionally for so long in lieu of his congenital foot issue.
“The specialist who saw him in 2005 told us that it would be very difficult for him to do sport at the highest level but Rafael has been defying that in the best possible way, because he has been able to face up to a difficult situation.
He looked like he was going to have a short career, but everything has turned out much better than we expected. He will have a solution when he finishes his career, but not while he is playing,” said Toni.
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While there is endless debate over who is the greatest of all time between Federer, Djokovic and Nadal, Toni believes that he can’t really comment on the issue given his family links.
“There are different measures to determine who is number one (of all time).
“In any case, my opinion is not valid because he (Nadal) is my nephew and if I considered that someone else is the best, I would not say so.
“Federer is a guy who has managed to transcend his sport.
“But apart from that he has achieved maximum efficiency with great elegance, and you can’t ask for more than that,” he said.
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