Rafael Nadal’s head coach Carlos Moya has revealed the reason why the champion Spaniard decided to withdraw his name from the Wimbledon Championship and Tokyo Olympics.
Nadal had earlier said that he needed to listen to his body and manage his workload with guile as it was not easy for him to bounce back into a Grand slam after only two weeks of the completion of French Open.
Moya revealed that Rafael Nadal was exhausted after the clay court season and deserved a break. Nadal had won his 12th Barcelona Open title and then carried his good form to win his 10th Italian Open title. However, Nadal was beaten in the epic semi-final clash of Roland Garros by Novak Djokovic in the four-set thriller.
Nadal gave his all against the World No.1 but Djokovic became the first man in history to beat the Spaniard twice in French Open. Thus, Nadal could not go on to achieve his record 14th title in Paris.
The 44-year-old coach stated, “The clay-court tour was very tough, with a lot of physical and mental pressure. Rafa finished exhausted. He is going to take a well-deserved rest, this is a marathon, a long-distance race in which hard decisions have to be made and he has considered that the best thing is to stop and come back full of strength.”
The former French Open winner added, “Rafa two years ago reached a point of great mental fatigue that was very difficult to get out of, and now he has interpreted that he was close to that again. He cannot afford a Grand Slam if he is not 100%, for all that his image implies, for prestige and for how he is.”
Nadal will aim to make a solid comeback after taking a rest. The southpaw will look to get back on court before the US Open and he will look to regain his fitness.