Uncle Nadal: 'It's hard for my nephew to catch up with Djokovic'
"Rafa is fine after surgery, recovering on schedule," Mr. Toni Nadal said on El Desmarque on September 11. "If everything goes well, he wants to return to compete at the Australian Open next year."
Nadal has not played since the 2023 Australian Open, where he was eliminated in the second round by Mackenzie McDonald. The Spanish tennis player had hip surgery in June and is unlikely to return for the rest of the season. A few months ago, Nadal said that 2024 would be the last season of his career.
Since the last time Nadal played, Novak Djokovic has won three more Grand Slams at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and the 2023 US Open. From holding the record of 22 Grand Slams, Nadal was surpassed by his opponent Serbia in the title race. big sign. Nole has 24 Grand Slams, two more than Nadal.
"Djokovic is a great champion and it will be very difficult to catch up with him, not only for my nephew but also for anyone," commented Mr. Toni, who led Nadal from the beginning of his career until 2017. . "It's very difficult to determine who is the best in history. You have to choose Djokovic, because the title statistics support him."
Last week, when Djokovic was playing at the US Open, Mr. Toni said that the Serbian tennis player benefited partly because the players now are not as good as the stars of the past decade, and commented that tennis 10 years ago was important. more competitive than at present. But after Nole defeated Daniil Medvedev in the US Open final, uncle Nadal had a different view of Djokovic.
"Even though I think Roger Federer can sometimes play at a higher level, Djokovic is definitely the best in terms of numbers," the 62-year-old strategist concluded.
A few days ago, Spanish Davis Cup team captain David Ferrer said that Nadal could return as soon as November, if the team wins tickets to the final round of the prestigious team tournament. But according to Mr. Toni Nadal, this possibility is unlikely.
On the ATP scoreboard updated this week, Nadal was knocked out of the top 200 for the first time in 20 years. He fell to 239th in the world, down 100 places compared to before the US Open. The "King of Clay" only has 255 ATP points left and will continue to have 210 points deducted for the rest of the year.
