Rafael Nadal is all set to make a proper comeback to action by featuring in the Australian Open. Recently in an interview, his coach Carlos Moya spoke on a lot of topics starting from Nadal’s chronic foot injury to his road to recovery.
The Spaniard’s foot injury popped up during the Roland Garros last year as he had no other option but to take a break from the court. He came back to action by playing in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship and later featured in the Melbourne Summer Set, where he defeated Ricardo Berankis 6-2, 7-5 in the second round of the tournament. Nadal is still a bit rusty and is gradually getting near to his best form.
However, his coach Carlos Moya is confident that Nadal will play his best tennis at the upcoming Australian Open. “(Rafael Nadal) needs matches. Nobody reaches their maximum potential just by training. As much as you train well, you have to take it to the matches,” he said. “We’re confident that those competing in Melbourne will help him find his rhythm for the Australian Open,” said Moya.
He even went on to say that the Spaniard will look be competitive at the Grand Slam Down Under. When asked if Nadal will do well at the Australian Open, Moya replied, “Yes (Rafael Nadal will be competitive in Melbourne). Without a doubt, despite the fact that he hasn’t played for some time. I’m sure he will do well here.”
Moya continues to hype up the Spaniard and suggest how Nadal will e featuring in the Australian Open not only to play a few matches but to win the Grand Slam. It will be a story for the ages if the Spaniard manage to script a fairytale after coming back from injury and a considerable amount of time on the sidelines.
“Five months have gone by, but nothing has happened that we didn’t know might happen. [Daniil] Medvedev won the US Open and [Alexander] Zverev the Nitto ATP Finals, but it was something we were expecting,” Moya said.
Moya feels that the Next Gen players have not burst into the scene winning Grand Slams. So he feels it is more or less the same and if Nadal returns to his best he will surely have a chance to win the Australian Open.
“Nobody burst through and won a Grand Slam, for example. More or less, it is as we left it. In summary; if Rafa returns to his best, he’s a candidate to win any tournament he plays in,” he concluded.
