How can humility be Nadal’s biggest flaw?

It’s been four days since Rafa Nadal He hung up his racket playing his last match as a professional in the Davis Cup. Four days since one of the greatest legends of tennis and sport said goodbye at home and with the satisfaction of having achieved more success than could be imagined. Nadal had a farewell that could be said to be intimate, humble, in line with his personality. And the Balearic Islander’s career is not only defined by his professional achievements, but also by the image that he has always reflected, sincere, respectful, unpretentious and with values.

One of the coaches Roger Federer, Paul Annaconeknows Nadal very well from the time he spent with the Swiss studying his game and then trying to beat him. The American coach was on Federer’s bench from 2010 to 2013, a position that gave him the opportunity to analyze Rafa well. Thus, after the years, Annacone realized something that could have been a double-edged sword in the Spaniard’s career. “Rafa’s only flaw was also his greatest virtue. His only flaw was his humility and that is also his greatest virtue. Sometimes I looked at him and wondered how he didn’t have a bigger ego. He was always so kind and humble in what he did. This sometimes hindered his ability to enter the court and hit the ball.“said the coach on the Inside-In Podcast of Tennis Channel.

And Annacone believes that the Balearic’s very respectful personality may have prevented him from unleashing his full aggressive potential on some occasions. “When Rafa felt vulnerable, he didn’t hit the ball. We saw him in his last game because he had not played and was on his worst surface. “His ball has a lot of spin and stays up, but because of that humility, he didn’t enter the court and started throwing balls everywhere.”said the American in relation to that extra intensity that he missed in Davis. “Once again, his greatest weakness, if he had any, was his humility. If you change that for how kind and valuable it is, I’ll stick with that balance“added Paul, emphasizing how that simplicity has ended up defining his legacy.

A challenge to break down Nadal’s game and then design strategies with Federer

Certainly, those three years training Federer helped him understand the complexity of the Balearic player’s game. That was very necessary if he later wanted to help his player devise efficient strategies to defeat him. Whether it worked or not, Annacone really enjoyed that time alongside Nadal’s biggest rival (along with Novak Djokovic). Of course, Rafa didn’t make it easy for him. “There is no greater challenge. And, for me, luckily, I also got to play with Roger, possibly one of the most talented athletes to ever hold a tennis racket in his hand, so it was a great contrast between the two of us. It was always fun trying to sit there and solve problems and figure out what Roger could do to make him uncomfortable.“.