Toni Nadal explains why he thinks Novak Djokovic is the greatest player his nephew Rafael Nadal has ever played against.
The 38-year-old came up against plenty of different opponents throughout his illustrious 23-year career.
But there is none who challenged him more than the Serbian who edged their 60-match head-to-head rivalry by 31 wins to 29.
Over the 18 years they competed against one another Nadal and Djokovic pushed one another to their absolute limit and forced each other to keep improving.
This rivalry was essential to the pair becoming all-time greats and Djokovic has said on more than occasion that Nadal is his biggest rival.
What did Toni Nadal say about Novak Djokovic when he played Rafael Nadal?
Novak Djokovic did something no other player had tried when playing against Rafael Nadal.
In 2011, the year the Serbian became World number one, he began to use his backhand to attack Nadal’s forehand, something players rarely tried given the damage can do with that shot.
But Djokovic attacked it with hard and deep shots, which would either draw an error from Nadal or a shot ball, which Djokovic pounced on and controlled the point.
According to former top 10 player Andrea Petkovic, Toni Nadal, who watched plenty of his nephew’s matches with Djokovic up close, said the 24-time Grand Slam champion sees the ball like no other player, and attacked Nadal in a way nobody else did.
“I loved the match up between Novak and Rafa, because Rafa respected Novak and knows he is the greatest player he has ever played,” Petkovic said on the Rennae Stubbs podcast.
“It is interesting because I talked to Toni Nadal and he said Novak and he said the reason for that is Novak sees the ball like nobody else. He is the only one who attacked Rafa’s forehand… He gave an example.
“He said the first few times Novak tried to take Rafa’s forehand on the rise with his backhand and miss-timed it a few times and was late on it. Then in the third match he had perfect timing every time. He said he had the best eyes in tennis.”
What else has Toni Nadal said about Novak Djokovic?
Petkovic’s above comments were about Nadal praising Djokovic, but the former coach of the 14-time French Open winner has riled up Djokovic fans with some of his past comments.
During a conversation with Majorcan outlet El Mundo, the elder Nadal explained why he thinks Djokovic does not have the same universal acclaim as his nephew and Roger Federer.
“I don’t particularly like demonstrations of the kind you are talking about, but they have become fashionable and a lot of people do it,” Toni said. “If Rafael had done it when he was with me, I would have said to him: ‘Don’t do it!’.
“There are players whose sporting merits go beyond their specific sport, like Djokovic. But there are others whose winning ways go beyond sports.
“That is what happens with Federer and Rafael, because life is not only about winning but also about how you win. Both have earned superior respect.”
Furthermore, following Nadal’s retirement announcement in October, the 63-year-old said his nephew would be the best player in history had it not been for his injuries.
“I think my nephew would be the best in history if he didn’t have so many injuries,” Nadal said. “When people ask me who is the best in history, I say, ‘The best in history is Djokovic because of everything he accomplished, and the one who played the best tennis is Federer. But I think my nephew would be the best in history if he didn’t have so many injuries.”
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