Alex Corretja: “Rafael Nadal future coach on the ATP circuit? It’s 99.9% impossible”

This is a delicate transition to manage for any high-level athlete. Rafael Nadal will not escape this “little death” that is the end of a career either. Since his early childhood, the Majorcan has played tennis, his passion which he has turned into a profession, and he will have to reinvent himself, to compensate in one way or another for this lack of adrenaline which has constituted his daily life. Because even if he played little in the last two years, he was still mobilizing his energy with a view to a possible extended comeback on the circuit. So what will the man with the 22 Middle Fingers do with his life from now on?

Would he be tempted to imitate Andy Murray for example? After three months of retirement taking up golf in particular, the Scot will make his return with fanfare to the world of the little yellow ball as Novak Djokovic’s coach in 2025.In my opinion, it is impossible. 99.9% impossible, because you can’t say totally impossible in lifejudge Alex Corretja, consultant for Eurosport. But I would be very, very surprised. I think he’s going to need time to realize what he really wants to do. I feel like even though he has 4 kids and is busy at home, Andy has less to do on a daily basis. Rafa lives in Manacor and he has his academy. So I don’t see him moving much. Maybe Andy still wanted to travel, to have this experience.”

The former Roland-Garros finalist has the advantage of being Spanish and of knowing the “Bull of Manacor” quite well. His view is all the more relevant on Nadal’s personality and probable choices. Especially since the Spaniard, a bit like Roger Federer, transcends his sport: he is known throughout the world and is probably even more in demand than Andy Murray can be despite his status as a notable champion in the history of tennis.

In this sense, Corretja perhaps believes that it would be more difficult for the Mallorcan to commit 100% to the circuit again. But that doesn’t mean he will walk away from the world of sport. “I don’t really see Rafa as a coach or a consultant to anyone. I would see him more as a consultant for something big like Real Madrid, bringing something to the club by giving some speeches“, he believes.

Nadal would not be the first ex-tennis champion to adopt this part-time role. In his time, Yannick Noah had played the improbable guides of a PSG in crisis, creating a collective state of mind at the origin of the success in the Coupe des Coupes in 1996. Aficionado of the Merengue, the Majorcan could see a good eye a reconversion in his favorite club. Especially since the world of football is more than familiar to him, his uncle Miguel Angel having been a Spanish international.

There is no doubt that his work ethic and total commitment would come in handy, whatever his new role. But it is also for this reason, precisely, that Mats Wilander imagines him returning to the circuit. And not alongside just any player.

“I can imagine Rafael Nadal training Carlos Alcarazsays the former Swedish champion. Alcaraz has one of the best coaches in the tennis world in Juan Carlos Ferrero. But the only thing he lacks is being able to maintain the same level of intensity from the first to the last point, whether on the ATP circuit in the best of three sets, in the Davis Cup, or in the Grand Slam. best of five. Nadal was the master of maintaining concentration and Carlos is not able to do that in every match. Neither John McEnroe, nor Roger Federer, nor myself were capable of it anyway.”

Wilander hopes in any case that Nadal will remain in the world of tennis and that he will share his experience as an extraordinary champion with someone or the public. “I see very well what Rafael Nadal could bring to a player, whether to a kid at his academy in Manacor or to a professional or as Davis Cup captain. So I think he will get involved as a coach or to comment on tennishe concludes. And for me, it means so much to our sport to have these guys, the Andy Murrays, Rafael Nadals and Roger Federers, hopefully, and to hear them talk about tennis. None of us have as much knowledge about the game as they do, including me.”