The lifetime coach of Rafael Nadal, Toni Nadal, has reviewed the season of his nephew during a recent interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Nadal ended his problematic season on a high by reaching the semifinal of the ATP World Tour Finals. In his final tournament of the year the 29-year-old defeated Andy Murray, the highest ranked player he has beaten since Novak Djokovic at the 2014 French Open. He also produced wins over Stan Wawrinka and David Ferrer before losing in the last four to Djokovic.
During parts of the season, it was uncertain if Nadal would even qualify for the year-end tournament. In June he slipped down to 10th in the world, his lowest ranking since 2005. This season was also the first time that Nadal hasn’t reached the last four in at least one Grand Slam since 2004. Despite the disappointments, Nadal still won three ATP titles on the tour this year. Speaking about Nadal’s performance, his coach, commonly known as ‘uncle Toni‘, has praised his nephew for ending the year positively.
“It has been a season of transition, full of ups and downs, it is true that we have not won major titles, but in the end we did well to pick ourselves up. At the ATP Finals he qualified as number five and reach the semi-final was a good way to bid farewell to 2015”. Toni Nadal said.
Shortly after Nadal’s Wimbledon loss to Dustin Brown, questions were raised about Uncle Toni and if it was time for Nadal to seek a new direction. Despite the calls, both men have ignored it and continued working together. An unsurprising move considering uncle Toni was the person who introduced Nadal to tennis at the age of 3. Assessing the reasons behind Nadal’s inconsistent year, uncle Toni identified one area which was troubling the 14-time Grand Slam champion.
“He has always been very gifted athletically and has always had a great appetite for work. He was not good enough to deal with his emotions and this has affected his game, but even before the ATP Finals his tennis was clearly improving and we can still improve“. The 54-year-old said.
To the relief of Nadal and his army of fans, it seems that the world No.5 is regaining control of his emotions which is having a positive impact on his game. Leading up to the ATP Finals, Nadal has enjoyed a series strong performances, including reaching the finals in Beijing (losing to Novak Djokovic) and Basel (losing to Roger Federer).
Looking ahead to 2016, uncle Toni has acknowledged that there ‘is still plenty to do’ but he hopes to bring the positive momentum generated from the end of 2015 into the start of 2016.
“The goal is a good start to the year, with confidence and enthusiasm”. He stated.
Nadal will start his 2016 season at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, which begins on January 4th. Nadal will be joined in the tournament by Novak Djokovic, David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych.
