Rafael Nadal’s long-time coach Carlos Moya has opened up on the start of their working relationship after his charge officially retired.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion ended his career in front of a home crowd while representing Spain at the Davis Cup Finals on Tuesday and Moya was there to watch his player say farewell.
Afterwards, Nadal’s coach penned an emotional open essay to the former world No. 1 and admitted he feared they’d ruin their friendship by starting a player-coach partnership.
Nadal said goodbye to professional tennis at the Davis Cup in Malaga, losing his last-ever match to Botic van de Zandschulp. Spain’s knockout quarter-final tie went down to a decisive doubles match, where the Netherlands came out on top, putting the 38-year-old into retirement.
It was an emotional evening, with Nadal’s colleagues, friends and family coming out to watch him hang up his racket. The Spaniard had the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Roberto Bautista Agut as his teammates, with David Ferrer as the captain.
And another retired Spanish tennis icon was in his corner – Carlos Moya. A former world No. 1 himself, the 48-year-old joined Nadal’s coaching camp ahead of the 2017 season and helped his charge win eight of his 22 Grand Slam trophies.
Moya has been with Nadal all the way – they first met when Nadal was 11 years old, they eventually became rivals on the tour and the Olympic gold medallist later asked Moya to join his coaching camp. The 1998 French Open has now reflected on their journey in an open essay.
“I first met Rafa when he was 11 years old, in Stuttgart. He was playing in a tournament on the Nike Junior Tour, in the under-12 category, and I was playing in the Masters 1000 in the same city,” Moya wrote for the ATP.
“I was playing with Becker and Rafa came to the practice the day before with someone from Nike, who introduced him to me. They asked me to play 10 minutes with him, and we knocked up for a bit. That was the first time we crossed paths.
“I thought he was a very shy and well-mannered boy, who barely spoke. Then on court he was transformed and his intensity was so high for someone of his age.”
But the 48-year-old confessed that he feared for their friendship when Nadal came over to discuss a potential coaching partnership. Moya continued: “Later, in 2016, it was such a joy to receive the call from the team, but first I wanted to have a conversation alone with him.
“He was coming off the back of two seasons where things had not gone well for him, he was 30 years old and didn’t know what to do going forward. We sat down to talk at my house and he laid out his goals for me.”
Moya had no qualms about Nadal’s hopes of returning to the top of the game and winning more Majors, he was only concerned about their relationship. “Honestly, I thought my new role would be more difficult because it was a big change,” he explained.
“We’d been friends for over 20 years, shared a lot together, both on and off the court, and becoming his coach… I was doubtful about how it might work.”
But his concerns were quickly put to rest. Nadal’s coach added: “It’s true that Rafa is very well-mannered and respectful, I’ve never heard him say a single word against his team or his family. That’s something I also valued and it helped me when it came to working with him.
“I don’t like the word ‘boss’, but sometimes you make decisions or you have conversations that aren’t easy and it’s hard travelling and spending so much time together. I was scared that that could erode the friendship side of it, but it wasn’t the case.”
As Nadal enters a new chapter of his life, so does Moya. The retired player-turned-coach is looking forward to spending more time at home with his family now that his man is no longer on the professional tennis circuit.
“I’m sure I’ll feel nostalgia, but what I feel above all is gratitude and appreciation,” he concluded, closing the chapter of his time as Nadal’s mentor.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk