Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer marked an era in the world of tennis and in sport in general with a rivalry of the greatestto the point of being compared to the one still maintained today by the Argentine star Lionel Messi, who plays for Inter Miami of Major League Soccer, and the Portuguese star forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, a player for Al Nassr of the Saudi Pro League.
Rafael’s uncle and former coach, Toni Nadal, through analysis He revealed some revelations about his nephew, such as the day a doctor proposed to him that his career could have come to an end in 2005 when he was only 19 years old.
Messi vs Ronaldo
Regarding the topic of comparing his nephew and Roger Federer, Toni Nadal assured that “it is comparable to the Nadal-Federer rivalry, except that Rafa can do the same thing that Federer does, on the other hand Cristiano cannot do what Messi does.” He confessed in an interview with Súper Deportivo Radio with journalist Emiliano Nunia.
“It is comparable in duration. From Messi to Cristiano there are more differences than from Rafael to Federer. Being Cristiano an excellent footballer, I think Messi has almost no comparison with anyone. Federer is an incredible player for me. What he has done and achieved. What I saw him do on a tennis court I have not seen anyone do. We could say that Federer has been Messi. Rafael (Nadal) has a different, but very high, talent. He is probably the player who has hit the best in a bad position,” added the uncle of one of the best athletes of recent times.
“It is true that my nephew does not have the technical excellence or elegance that Federer may have., but Rafael does the same thing that Federer does, although Cristiano cannot do the same thing that Messi does. Cristiano is very good, but he does not have the ability to do the dribbles that he did or that Messi has done throughout his career. In the case of my nephew, in a different way, he is able to do the shots that Federer does.”
“Today we live in a world where it is very difficult to tell people the reality. Frustration comes from a lack of encouragement, an exaggerated search for immediacy and not facing reality and a personal overvaluation. Messi lost 5 Ballon d’Ors with Cristiano Ronaldo. The best in history also had setbacks, but the difference is that Messi’s frustration did not prevent him from advancing in his career,” the coach stressed.
Physical problems for Rafael from a very young age
“I saw a boy (Nadal) who had physical problems from birth and that he had to combat since he was little.. He taught me that, even if you have many problems, you can continue trying to achieve the goals you set for yourself. “He taught me that despite having many successes he always kept his feet on the ground,” he recalled.
“Rafael had a problem in one of his feet from birth, a bad formation in a bone in his feet.. It is a congenital problem that caused him a lot of pain. There were games that were long and the pain was incessant. This caused a lot of problems for his feet, they had to change his insoles which changed the way he supported his feet. I remember that the doctor and specialist we visited in 2005 told us that his career was over, because other patients who had this problem only did very light sports. 20 years have passed and my nephew is still trying; He has a record of consecutive participations in Masters at the end of the year and for 17 years he finished in the top 8,” he assured.
Toni also wanted to emphasize that thanks to the great performances and level of play of his nephew, Rafaelhad the opportunity to experience things within the sport that he never imagined: “Thanks to Rafael I was lucky enough to get excited about many things, watching games and championships win.”
Of those times in which they worked together, he said that “I enjoyed Rafael being inside him and I didn’t suffer from it as much because I understood defeats more than victories. Now I suffer a lot more.”
Train Rafael again?
Toni also left for granted his thoughts and position regarding returning to be his nephew’s coach: “It would be utopian to work again with a young man like Rafael Nadal. I never deceive myself. I know that is impossible. My motivation and hope is to feel useful working with tennis players and help them.”
“Illusion is what makes the difference between human beings and the animal world. Life is made up of reality and illusion. We live reality almost the same as animals live it. What we do not experience the same is the desire to improve, to achieve a challenge,” she reflected.
“You have to try to look for reasons that lead you to improve what you are doing.”. You always have to look for reasons to motivate yourself, otherwise life becomes routine,” Toni Nadal concluded in the interview.
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