Rafael Nadal’s coach Carlos Moya has revealed what the retirement conversations were like over the 2024 season.
In news that still sent a jolt through a reluctant sporting world, Rafael Nadal announced he would be hanging up the racquet at the Davis Cup finals in November.
After the Spaniard missed three out of the four majors this year, a difficult draw at Roland Garros saw him defeated by eventual finalist Alexander Zverev in the opening round.
An eleventh hour withdrawal from the Laver Cup almost settled rumours of a retirement this year, with many assuming he would wait it out until the French Open next year, where he’s won 14 titles.
However, with the prospect of a home crowd in Malaga, the 38-year-old shared in an emotional video that the Davis Cup finals would be his last professional outing.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Rafael Nadal as the 14-time French Open winner announces retirement
Nadal’s coach since 2016, former world number one Carlos Moya, has shared intimate details about the mood in the camp during the French Open.
A matter of when rather than if, Moya has suggested that Nadal has been searching for the right time to call it a day for a large part of this year.
Nonetheless however, the 48-year-old has said he will enter a “period of mourning” after the public announcement was made last Thursday.
He told Radioestadio Noche: “I will now have a period of mourning at work because something breaks up with someone like Rafa who we have known since we were children. The only way to feel something similar would be to train a son,” Moya said of Nadal.
Moya went on to reveal: “At Roland Garros, we had a conversation and he asked me if I thought he should retire or hold back a bit. I told him not to say anything before, to have a good tournament, not to close himself off and he thought the same. Then what happens, happens and we see the team and he is running out of realistic objectives.
“As for his game, the doubts continued. This year we did not see any game in which he gave the performance that he showed us in training.”
Having committed to playing at the Paris Olympics and forming an exciting doubles partnership with Carlos Alcaraz, Moya explained how this was the moment that tipped the balance for Nadal.
“The final point is the Olympic Games, he has a problem the days before and plays against Djokovic in the second round. I think that was his last great hope and that’s why he decided that it will be his last.
After the Olympics he takes a few weeks off and I think that’s when he realises that this is going to be his last year.”
Moya has remained right by Nadal’s side throughout his difficult injury woes over the last few years.
Coming in during the 2016 season, Moya has overseen the back-end of Nadal’s career, with the pair winning eight of his 22 major titles together.
Retiring in 2010, the two Spaniard’s have still faced each other seven times. A 16-year-old Nadal shocked Moya, ranked fourth in the world at the time, in straight sets.
While Moya got revenge in the next one to level things up, Nadal dominated their rivalry, winning five of their next six matches.
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