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Rafael Nadal; Andy Murray
Rafael Nadal has been tipped to follow in Andy Murray’s footsteps by becoming a coach (Image: Getty)
Rafael Nadal has been tipped to follow in Andy Murray’s footsteps by coaching a top player in retirement.
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Novak Djokovic recently announced that his old rival would become his coach during the off-season and Australian Open. It comes just four months after Murray ended his career.
And Mats Wilander believes Nadal could do the same with a player he claims is one of the “best ever”.
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Nadal officially entered retirement last week as Spain suffered defeat in their Davis Cup quarter-final tie against the Netherlands. The former world No. 1 has yet to confirm what his next steps will be but he’s been enjoying some other sports in the meantime.
The 38-year-old entered a golf tournament over the weekend, finishing eighth at the Hexagonal Circuit Q-Romia.
On Wednesday, he headed to the Manchester City Football Academy to visit Pep Guardiola and the players before rushing to Anfield to watch Real Madrid in action.
While Nadal has been taking his mind off of tennis, Wilander believes the Spaniard could return to the tennis tour as Carlos Alcaraz’s coach. The compatriots have spent a lot of time together this year.
They joined forces in doubles at the Olympics and were Davis Cup teammates for Nadal’s farewell. They also faced off at the Six Kings Slams exhibition in Saudi Arabia.
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Mats Wilander thinks Rafael Nadal could coach Carlos Alcaraz (Image: Getty)
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Wilander now thinks that Murray’s decision to start coaching Djokovic could influence Nadal to go down the same path. “It’s very possible that Rafa Nadal comes back as a coach,” he told Eurosport.
“And obviously, because of the Novak Djokovic-Andy Murray story that has just cracked open. I can even imagine Rafael Nadal coaching Carlos Alcaraz, for example.”
The seven-time Grand Slam champion already knows exactly how Nadal could help the current world No. 3, adding: “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.”
But Wilander has also speculated whether Nadal will go down another route – either mentoring a junior at his Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca or taking over as Spain’s Davis Cup captain.
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Regardless, he wants to see the 92-time title winner stay involved in tennis. “I am pretty sure that Rafael Nadal will be coaching at some point,” he added.
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“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.”
If Nadal does decide to mentor Alcaraz, it will make the 21-year-old even more valuable in Wilander’s eyes. The Swedish tennis legend recently claimed that Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner were even better than the Big Three when playing at their best.
“I hope Roger, Novak, and Rafa are not listening, but in terms of level, when 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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