Yesterday, or a couple of days ago interview with Uncle Toni about the AO and Rafa.
Toni Nadal on Rafael, interviewed by @djub22 in today's l'Équipe: "Rafa is finally pain free and fine mentally."
The tennis planet vibrated in a way rarely seen when once again he found himself in a summit meeting with Federer. Did you also experience the last few days in a re-lived dream?.
-- Not at all. My work wasn't casting myself over some 'magical' aspect of a duel between Roger and Rafael. My job was concentrating on getting this trophy. For sure, re-playing a big final against him after so many years [their last meeting together in a Slam final goes back Roland Garros 2011] and with all the significance a Nadal-Federer meeting has, there was something moving about it. But, personally, I would have preferred meeting someone not as strong [smiles]
Did Federer stun you?
-- When I watched his matches against Berdych [3rd round], Nishikori [round of 16] and Wawrinka [semis], I told myself countering him would be very complicated. And really, he went at us very quickly and resisting his game was difficult. It's also true that his backhand was incredible at the end of the tournament. I see two reasons for that. Fist of all, Federer experienced a very inspiring week: he missed a lot less than normal, and he stuck firmly to his decision to hit the ball flatter. And then, I don't know if the surface was as fast as many have said, but playing at night favoured Federer, because the ball doesn't bounce as high and it was easier for him to anticipate. Extreme top spin just wasn't possible. But in any case, on the whole, his level was very high.
And Rafael's?
-- Rafael recovered his game. He had a good tournament, he had a good attitude, and played matches that were not bad against Dimitrov, Monfils and Raonic.
"Not bad"? You're being tough. It was tremendous against Dimitrov, no?
-- That's true, it was a great match. I think really Rafael was very close to his top level, both mentally and game-wise.
The best Nadal we've seen in the last three seasons?
-- It doesn't seem so simple to me. Don't forget, Rafael went into Roland Garros last year feeling excellent. There was just this little niggle [left wrist] that was bothering us, and which forced us to withdraw after two rounds and then ruined the end of the season.
How do you explain that he's rediscovered his best tennis at the beginning of this season?
-- For the first time in a very, very long while, Rafael has no physical worries to manage. As soon as we started preparing for the 2017 season, in November in Manacor, his feelings hitting were very good. Peace of mind counts for so much!
Which means?
-- Rafael has been stressed for several years because of his physical problems. At some point, you can't deliver with everything you have on the court, you can't have the ideal attitude in training, you lose self-confidence too much. When your shots depend on the state of your hand, your knee, your foot, at some point having to manage all those pains tires you out. They sap your strength. And suddenly, presto, as soon as Rafael could play without pain, he quickly recovered a good level. And what's more, we were reinforced by the addition of Carlos Moya, who also was a real plus..
During the whole off-season, you nevertheless once again tried a change of materiel, testing different racquets. A year ago, different stringing ...
-- At the start of 2016, we made a mistake with the stringing. We changed to gain more power, but all we gained was a loss of confidence. Rafael was tentative in competition because he hadn't adapted enough to the new stringing and he was playing with doubts [and a lack of control]. At Indian Wells, in March, we went back to the old stringing.
And a new racquet model?
We were looking for some way to produce more definitive forehands It's a problem we've been trying to solve for a while. We want Rafael's forehand to accelerate more.So we looked left and right. But we finally ended up with his original racquet with simply more weight added. And it seems we've found a good compromise.
All these experiments with materiel, that means that solutions are to be found "outside"?
-- No, no, it's still the head above all. It determines everything, it allows you to develop your game. If it's not ticking properly up there, everything becomes very difficult.
And the head's OK today?
-- The head's fine, thanks.
Respectfully,
masterclass
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