Patrick Mouratoglou explains what everyone said was ‘wrong’ with Rafael Nadal’s game when he made his ATP debut back in 2002

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Rafael Nadal enjoyed a legendary career on the ATP Tour, winning 22 Major titles.

Few players have left a bigger impact on the game of tennis than Nadal, who entertained fans throughout his professional career.

When Nadal retired from tennis in 2024, he did so as one of the most successful players to have ever picked up a racket.

Many believe his record of 14 French Open titles will never be broken, as the 38-year-old dominated on the Parisian clay.

Although highly regarded as a junior player, many questioned the Spaniard when he made his ATP Tour debut back in 2002.

One WTA coaching legend has now shared his thoughts as he explains what Nadal did that worried some fans and pundits 23 years ago.

Patrick Mouratoglou claims everybody said Rafael Nadal’s forehand was ‘wrong’ in 2002

Speaking on Instagram, Naomi Osaka’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, looked back at an area of Nadal’s game that people were unsure of when he first broke through on the ATP Tour.

“If you look at Rafa’s forehand when he came on tour, everybody said, ‘Oh, this is wrong,’ he said.

“He finishes here [high] because before him, nobody did.

“Is it efficient? That’s the only question.”

Mouratoglou went on to explain how following the ‘fundamentals’ is the key to success for any player.

“How you hit your forehand, you’re backhand, you’re serve doesn’t matter that much,” he said.

“You look at the 100 best players in the world, you have 100 different forehands.

“The only thing that matters is, does it respect the fundamentals? Yes or no? Is it efficient? Yes or no?

“Roger’s [Federer] forehand and Rafa’s [Nadal] forehand respect the fundamentals 100% because otherwise there would be no chance that those shots would be as good as they are.

“Do they look alike? Not at all.”

Both forehands were deadly at times, as statistics show both players enjoyed success with the shot over the years.

What happened when Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer played for the first time?

Questions over Nadal’s forehand were set to be answered when he took on world number one Federer for the first time in Miami 21 years ago.

The Spaniard was ranked 34th in the world but had a reputation that far exceeded his ranking, as the Floridian crowd eagerly anticipated the pair’s first career meeting.

Firing on all cylinders, and with the intensity fans have come to expect from Nadal, he grabbed the first set over Federer, 6-3.

Powering through in the second, Nadal secured his first career victory over a world number one, setting the tone for his soon-to-be legendary rivalry with the Swiss phenom.

The pair next faced off in the Miami final one year later, as Federer exacted revenge on Nadal, winning in five, to level things up at one a piece.

They played a further 37 times on the ATP Tour before their final meeting at Wimbledon in 2019.

What happened when Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer played for the last time?

Nadal led the head-to-head with Federer, 24-15, ahead of their final career battle at SW19 six years ago.

Facing off in the semi-finals, Nadal was a heavy underdog having lost six of their previous seven matches.

In a tense affair, Federer grabbed the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 [7-3] as he edged closer to a 12th Wimbledon final.

Nadal then found another gear in the second, as he dropped just one game on his way to leveling the match.

It was Federer who prevailed, however, using all of his grass court experience to dispatch the Spaniard in four sets, 7-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, to book his place in the final.

The legendary duo, who won a combined 42 Grand Slam titles, never played against one another again as their once-in-a-lifetime rivalry came to a fitting end on Wimbledon’s Centre Court.