“I don’t hide the reality,” Rafael Nadal Academy does not look to soften the blows of professional tennis, as chief Toni Nadal makes clear

Rafael Nadal started the Rafa Nadal Academy in 2016. The Spaniard calls his academy a very important project in his life. He has made a training system based on everything he learned from his years of experience in the ATP circuit. Nadal is hands down one of the best tennis players of all time, and thus his academy became one of the most famous tennis academies in the world in no time. 

The Rafa Naval Academy is headed by the Spaniard’s uncle and former coach, Toni Nadal. Toni, who has a coaching experience of roughly thirty years and has coached Nadal for almost the entirety of his career, is perhaps one of the best men for this job. He recently talked about the approach that he uses with young students in the academy in a recent interview and it further proves the point. 

Toni Nadal said that he is transparent with his students and keeps on reminding them that the path to becoming a tennis player is extremely difficult and that is exactly why there are so few tennis professionals in the world. However, it is still important for them to believe that they can achieve the goal. 

At the Academy we are clear that we have to be very close because we are all the same. The boys who come have enthusiasm, but I don't hide the reality from them. I tell them that what they have chosen is very difficult - there are very few tennis professionals - but that illusion must be kept alive. The main thing is not the results, but the process that leads you to achieve them and, when you have tried something with all your spirit, you get great satisfaction.

Toni Nadal (H/T: Huelvainformacion)

Toni Nadal says he does not like modern-day tennis

On being asked whether he likes modern-day tennis, Toni Nadal said that he has always preferred tactics over technicality. He opined that the sport has become way too technical and perfect nowadays and there is no room for tactics now. The credit for this, he said, goes to the improvement in balls and courts.

I don't like it because there is little room for tactics. I like sport when it is a combination of physical and mental improvement and nowadays in tennis, because of the speed at which the ball goes and what is done on the court, it is difficult to set a tactic. Sport is now so technical that there is little room for creativity.

The 62-year-old said that he prefers to see a game with errors and fewer capabilities. He also said that the average level of technique and hitting of the players has improved a lot, which is obviously a good thing. 

In case you missed it:

• “Being on the phone all the time,” Carlos Alcaraz’s coach and former world no. 1 outlines generational gap pooling in Holger Rune and Jannik Sinner with the young Spaniard
• “Over the years his level has lowered,” Toni Nadal slaps Novak Djokovic with an “inferior” tag as he expresses clear contempt for modern tennis

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