Rafael Nadal has been tipped to emulate Andy Murray by coaching ‘one of the best players ever’.
Last week, Murray was announced as Novak Djokovic’s coach for the upcoming Australian Open.
Murray, who won three Grand Slam titles, retired from tennis in August and will look to help Djokovic win his 25th major title in Melbourne at the start of 2025.
‘We played each other since we were boys, 25 years of being rivals, of pushing each other beyond our limits,’ Djokovic said of the partnership.
‘We had some of the most epic battles in our sport. I thought our story may be over – turns out it has one final chapter.
‘It’s time for one of my toughest opponents to step into my corner.’
Nadal has been tipped to follow suit following his own retirement from the sport, the Spanish legend bowing out after Spain’s Davis Cup defeat earlier this month.
The 38-year-old, who won 22 Grand Slam titles, will likely turn to coaching after hanging up his racket, according to fellow former world number one Mats Wilander.
Wilander can even see Nadal taking his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz under his wing and trying to help the 21-year-old add to the four Grand Slam titles he has won over the past two years.
‘It’s very possible that Rafa Nadal comes back as a coach, and obviously, because of the Novak Djokovic-Andy Murray story that has just cracked open,’ Wilander told Eurosport.
‘I can even imagine Rafael Nadal coaching Carlos Alcaraz, for example. A player like Carlos Alcaraz, the one thing that they are missing is to keep the same intensity level, from the first point till the last point.
‘Rafael Nadal was the master in keeping the same focus from the first point to the last point. Carlos Alcaraz, at this particular moment, he’s not able to do that in every match.
‘Rafael Nadal was able to, so I can see that the value that Nadal would bring to any player, whether it’s a kid back home at the Nadal Tennis Academy in Manacor on Mallorca, or if it’s a professional, or how about being the Davis Cup captain after David Ferrer is done?
‘I am pretty sure that Rafael Nadal will be coaching at some point. I think he’s going to be involved in thinking about tennis, and to me, that’s again so valuable for our sport, to hold on and to get these guys, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and hopefully Roger Federer one day, to hear them talk about tennis is so valuable for us.
‘They are the three greatest players of all time, together with Novak Djokovic and the knowledge they have – none of us have any knowledge of the way that they know the game of tennis.’
Wilander recently claimed Alcaraz, purely based on ability, was one of the ‘best players ever’ and up there with Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer.
‘I hope Roger, Novak, and Rafa are not listening, but in terms of level, when [Jannik] Sinner and Alcaraz are at their best, there is no way anyone has ever played better tennis, that the tennis ball has done more different, complicated, difficult things than the ball is doing between Sinner and Alcaraz,’ he said.
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Nadal was understandably emotional as his tennis career came to an end but said he felt ‘super privileged’ to have enjoyed his sensational career.
‘It has been 20 years of a professional career in which you have carried me through the good times, and in the bad you pushed me to keep playing,’ the King of Clay said.
‘The truth is that you never want to get to this point. I’m not tired of playing tennis but my body doesn’t want to play anymore and you have to accept that.
‘I feel super privileged, I’ve been able to make my hobby my profession for a long time.’
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