It may be time for Rafael Nadal to make a change.
Nothing against Uncle Toni, but Rafael Nadal needs to add a new coach to his team. Toni Nadal has been coaching Rafa from the age of 4, over 25 years. In fact, Toni is the most successful tennis coach in history, earning Nadal 14 Major trophies, 31 Masters titles, and 2 Olympic Gold medals. Still, Rafa has started to run dry.
After a few dominating years at the top of tennis, Nadal hasn’t won a major since 2014. He has yet to even make it past the quarterfinals in any major. After an embarrassing 2nd round lost to World #102 Dustin Brown at Wimbledon, even tennis great John McEnroe called for Rafa to “get a new damn coach.”
Adding a new coach isn’t a foreign idea to members of the Big Four of tennis. Novak Djokovic won 19 Majors and Masters since Picking up Boris Becker in 2013 (though their partnership just ended this December). Djokovic also earned a Career Grand Slam and stayed at world #1 for the entirety of their time together.
Andy Murray had yet to win a single tournament before hiring Ivan Lendl in 2011. With the former world #1 in his coaching box, Murray reached his career height. He became the first British man to even in a major tournament in 77 years, for a total of two Wimbledons and a US Open championship. Murray also became the first back to back Olympic Singles Gold champion in tennis history. Most recently, Andy Murray has overtaken Djokovic as world #1.
Even Roger Federer upped his game with the addition of Stefan Edberg in 2014. After a poor 2013, Federer won 3 Masters titles and reached 3 Major finals with Edberg.
That leaves only one member of the Big Four left. But what is holding Rafael Nadal back? Even Toni has admitted Rafa would have replaced him if he weren’t his uncle. But even with so many calling for a new coach, Rafa has yet to chose one. Now that he’s past the 30-year mark, a new coach may be the only way the King of Clay can reclaim his throne.
- TAGS
- Rafael Nadal
- Uncle Toni
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