Just as the initial, heady fascination with the concept of super coaches looked to be slowly waning, Rafael Nadal has injected a fresh dose of imminence into the subject by adding Carlos Moya to his coaching team.
It has been a decision that indeed took a while coming. Nadal’s peers had embraced the idea in earnest ever since Andy Murray forged a successful partnership with Ivan Lendl as far back as 2012. But this is a step taken at the most conducive time than merely following a trend in vogue.
The inexplicable loss of Nadal’s tenacity
Nadal has constantly battled injuries, at times simultaneously, while taking on his rivals on-court. However, while his willpower paved the way for his wins even if his physique was uncooperative before, the last two years have seen him lose hard-won ground in matches after being simply overpowered by his rivals mentally. This aspect has been severely drawn out in the Slams, including in 2016.
Of the two Slams that Nadal contested in entirety in 2016, his run at the Australian Open was cut short in the opening round itself by his unseeded compatriot Fernando Verdasco, who bested him in five sets despite the 14-time major winner holding a two-sets-to-one lead. Then, at the US Open, Nadal went down to the 25th seed, Frenchman Lucas Pouille, in the fourth round in yet another five-setter. Since he had marked a momentous turnaround in the match against Pouille, coming back to level the match at two-sets all after trailing by two-sets-to-love, the loss – and its reasons – had the hardest impact.
Ahead of what is definitely a make-or-break season for the nine-time French Open champion, the engagement of Moya is, then, quite a calculated move. For, if there has been one area where Moya’s coaching credentials are firmly established, it is in the fact that he transformed Milos Raonic into a mentally surer player as much as he helped develop nuances in the Canadian’s game. The most pertinent example to share in this regard would be of Raonic’s performance in his Wimbledon semi-final against Roger Federer, where he subdued the Swiss, a seven-time former champion.
Nadal and Moya: the Mallorcan Duality
In bringing out these facets of Raonic’s strengths, while Moya would have needed time to understand his mentee’s strengths and weaknesses for himself, the nature of his professional role with Nadal will, however, begin with certain familiarity. And, on a more promising note for the Manacor native.
Nadal’s excitement is understandable. From being a fellow Mallorcan to being an experienced player mentoring the fledging Nadal on the Tour, the two islanders not only share their geographic roots, but also have a great camaraderie and friendship. The latter has evolved over the course of the years even as it has strengthened along the way.
In engaging Moya, there’s an attempt to further solidify their rapport even as there’s the obviousness of Nadal trying to narrow his closely knit team further. The positives stemming from such a move are significant, but there are a handful of negatives that could crop up too as a misalignment of these affirmations.
Rising above familiarity and its pit-falls
Irrespective of the anticipation greeting their association, the existing dynamic between Nadal and his uncle Toni has to be considered a pivotal factor. The receptiveness in having Moya help overturn the bleakness clouding Nadal’s prospects comes with an underscored proviso that has been highlighted by both Nadal and Moya. That the 1998 Roland Garros champion will be complementing Nadal’s hitherto two-person coaching team of Toni Nadal and Francisco Roig, especially pin-pointed to the former.
Moya is no stranger to being a member of a coaching team since he was working along with Riccardo Piatti, and for a brief while with John McEnroe, in his stint as Raonic’s coach. Having said so, the two scenarios are different given that Toni Nadal has had a longer – and deeper – influence in shaping his nephew’s career.
While Toni Nadal may have been the person responsible for getting Moya into the Rafael Nadal camp, having someone else takeover a responsibility that’s long been personally cherished and nurtured will be difficult to adapt and adjust to. Any friction that could be caused will have a contradicting result to what had been intended, further affecting Nadal’s performances.
Thus, regardless of the nostalgia that their collaboration invokes, it would augur well to temper expectations at the start while retaining cautious optimism. For, if anyone can help Nadal re-assert his self-belief, there is none better than Moya. Who, in being the first Mallorcan to put the island on the international map became an unconventional north star in guiding Nadal to cement his place as one of the best tennis players in the world.