Tommy Paul’s coach recalls a rather hilarious moment with Rafael Nadal.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion was known for his intense practice sessions and how much harder he hits the ball during training.
The Spaniard often left fans in awe when fans would turn up to watch him prepare for his matches.
But one time a session did not go according to plan, which Tommy Paul’s Brad Stine shared with the Slice Tennis podcast.
Tommy Paul’s Brad Stine shares moment with Rafael Nadal in during practice
Nadal is one of the most focused and driven individuals ever seen in tennis, especially during his practice sessions.
He has shown great resilience on court and during his career he never gave up and fought for every point as though it were his last.
But back at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, his last appearance there as a player, he did something out of character during a practice session.
“It was pretty funny, Tommy was practicing over at the practice courts at Wimbledon at Aorangi Park and we had a practice session lined up with Rafa. They were hitting.
“We had an hour and a half on the courts maybe and they had been hitting for 20 or 25 minutes and stopped to take a break. Rafa stayed out there and for whatever reason asked if I could feed him a few balls.
“So I picked up a few balls and he had his coach there, his coach was standing behind him talking to him, so he asked me to feed him a few balls to the forehand. I fed him three balls in a row. He flagged every one of them into the net. “I said tongue in cheek, ‘do you want me to slow it down!’
“He didn’t respond, I’m not sure he found it amusing in the moment. I think I fed him one more after that, he missed again and that was it. He walked off to the side. I think it was at Wimbledon, it might have been the year he ended up retiring in the semi-finals.”
John Isner and Sam Querrey recalled training with Rafael Nadal
During Nadal’s practice sessions, he flattened out his shots and went for more risk with his shots by hitting with even more power, perhaps more than he did during matches
This is one of the reasons why Sam Querrey and John Isner did not enjoy practicing with the former World number one, as they explained on their Nothing Major podcast.
“In Beijing, my coach said Rafa wants to practice with you so I set it up and I was like okay. By the way Rafa was horrible to practice with,” Isner said.
“He hits the ball so hard and he hits winners and it’s Rafa so you won’t say anything, just let him go on it. It was a horrible practice because he was hitting the ball so hard and ripping every third ball for a winner and I didn’t enjoy it and he saw my game as well.”
Querrey added: “Those Rafa practices, I played with him maybe two times in my career. It is so intense and you’re so nervous.
“He misses a lot of balls, he red lines and hits every ball as hard as he can. The practice is all about Rafa. You could be ranked eight in the world and you are catering your practice around him, which is totally fine, but he is not a fun guy to practice with.”
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