Rafael Nadal sent message over Roger Federer rivalry by uncle Toni
RAFAEL NADAL has been urged not to let Roger Federer’s Australian Open victory dishearten him in their battle for tennis supremacy.
Nadal remains atop the world rankings but is likely to lose that spot to Federer by the beginning of March after the Swiss closed the gap to just 155 points in Australia.
Federer's Spanish rival is also battling a leg injury that forced him out of the first Grand Slam of the year in the fifth set of the quarter-final against Marin Cilic.
However, Nadal is optimistic of recovering within the next four weeks and competing in Acapulco on February 26.
But he will be doing so, as he did in Australia, without the court-side guidance of Toni Nadal, his uncle and long-term coach who has stepped down this year to run their tennis academy in Mallorca.
The 56-year-old is still speaking to his nephew on a regular basis though and has encouraged him to keep fighting even though Federer appears to be the leading player in the world at the moment.
“Each victory of Federer complicates things more for my nephew but, if the injuries steer clear, I hope I won’t see him abandon the fight mentally or the accept things as they are,” Toni wrote in an article for Spanish newspaper El Pais.
“Today, as Roger has moved away a little more from him, I share with many people the great value of this man and the magnitude of his achievements, but also today more than ever Rafael should want to fight to overcome his current setback and find the necessary conviction in his own passion.”
Federer’s Australian Open victory took him to 20 Grand Slam titles, the first man ever to do so, with Nadal four back on 16.
And Toni was quick to pay tribute to the achievements of the 36-year-old Federer.
“When Roger Federer understood that he had to evolve the concepts of his game, he did and waited,” Toni added.
“Good examples of intelligence, patience and commitment.
“I believe that his tennis is more relentless today, although the points also seem less colourful to me as the epic longer and more disputed exchanges get lost along the way.
He also wrote: “Only a character subjected precisely to something as irrational as excessive passion and obsession for what one does is able to withstand what such a long and fruitful career involves.”