Legends’ Voice – Carlos Moya: ‘Nothing would surprise me about Rafael Nadal – I don’t see anything impossible’

Carlos Moya has already been through a lot of adversity working with the great Rafael Nadal, including his most recent injury comeback ahead of the 2024 Australian Open.

Moya knows that with Nadal, everything is possible. His next big challenge after battling back from injury will be the Australian Open, but ahead lies Roland-Garros and the Olympic Games at Paris 2024 in what could be a very special season.

Almost a year later, I remember the second-round match against Mackenzie McDonald. Rafa had not been playing well; he had not been playing with confidence. The previous year, after winning the first two Grand Slams of the year, things got complicated. He first had the stress fracture in his ribs at Indian Wells, then he got the abdominal injury at Wimbledon. Several personal issues also affected him. He came with an inertia that was not what he is used to.

We saw that his level was not as desired and there was a lot of tension. Mentally, it wasn’t him, it wasn’t the Rafa we were used to seeing. I think that also contributed to him getting injured in that game. There was too much tension, it was all too forced. We also didn’t think it was going to be what that injury later became. As time went by, it became clear that it was a more serious injury than expected.

Rafa’s idea was to return every week. First in Monte Carlo, then in Barcelona, then in Madrid, later in Rome. But every week was a new disappointment. The diagnosis was not clear. Perhaps the diagnosis was, but he saw that something was not going well in the recovery. You had to force it, and the idea was to be at Roland-Garros. We did not force it before, but facing Roland Garros, we did decide to. I remember that in a training session he was playing with a junior from the academy, trying to do tie-breaks at least, not even sets, and there he got injured again. That’s when we saw that it would no longer be Roland-Garros.

From there, we met to see what was decided. From that moment on, then came all the medical issues that followed.

Not being at Roland-Garros for Rafa was an absolute disappointment. His big goal every year is to get to Roland-Garros well, compete there and be competitive. He saw that he missed the entire clay-court tour, and he missed Indian Wells first. The fact of missing Roland-Garros was when he saw that the year was over, that he needed a mental break and to see exactly what was happening.

When Rafa said ‘I don’t deserve to retire in a press room’, those were sincere and honest words which expressed a feeling and a reality. Someone as great as him does not deserve to say goodbye from the operating room. He deserves to fight until the last moment. The operating room for an athlete of this level is the last nail you hold on to because no one wants to go through it. We must see how you come back later. His decision was to try until the last moment, knowing the risk that entailed. I think the decision, as seen now, was the right one, like many of the decisions he has made. He chose to take this path with the support of the entire team. If he wanted to retire on the track, undergoing surgery was the only possible option.

At that moment, just after the surgery, you have doubts. You wait to see how the operation went, how the rehabilitation progresses. In theory, he is going to turn out well, but there is always a risk that it didn’t turn out well. I had an operation that didn’t go well, and after that I had to retire. That can happen too. It can happen to any player who decides to go under the knife.

He was not sure if he was going to return – we thought so, but there was the option of not. But then, little by little, we had to see how he returned after being on vacation for a month and a half, without doing anything, without touching the racquet due to the injury. And when he returns, he will be determined to try. That is a push forward for everyone. We realise that the dream he wanted can come true.

Then it is true that, since we started playing at the beginning of August, we did it two days a week for 20 minutes at club level. Since then, it has been an upward line but with several downturns along the way. He resented the operation, and there are doubts about whether something had gone wrong. At all times, the doctor told us that this was normal and to move on. It gave us morale but there were low moments. There were many doubts as to whether the operation had gone well and if he was going to be able to return.

Without a doubt, it has been the hardest thing I have experienced with Rafa. It has been the part in which I have seen his withdrawal closest. He had never undergone a surgery, and it is not the same at 20 as at 37. After having won everything, he has won, the conditions are very different. It is the hardest moment I have experienced with him without a doubt.

No matter how much you know him, Rafa surprises you on a daily basis. It is the ability that he has for a comeback, to continue giving everything, to do his best on the track and to be competitive again. All those challenges that he has been facing these months, he has been overcoming. I am someone who is optimistic and positive, but I admit that I have had my doubts at certain times that we could be in Australia. Being here is a victory. How is he going to come back? The level in training is good. Then in games, anything can happen. But the confidence that the level is good in training makes you positive that it can go well.

I hope to see the best version of Rafa in a couple of months because it is the first time that he has returned from being sidelined for such a long time. The fact that Rafa needs matches and rhythm is a bit of an urban legend because he has been injured many times for five-six months and had never left the top 10. That means that he adapts perfectly to what there is. But this time, it’s a little different. It’s being 37 years old, going through the operating room, fatherhood… there are many things that make everything different, but our trust in him is absolute. We know that it is going to be an arduous and hard road, that the final goal is to be in competition, and it will be achieved now. But being in competition, he will try to be as competitive as possible. I think we will see a very good version of Rafa, but this time he is going to need a couple of months.

Looking ahead to a possible last season, we focus on what we have worked on in recent years. The first ball, being aggressive, making the rallies shorter… the legs are not what they were before. For this, you need good work and the quality that Rafa has. With other players it is more difficult to demand that. With Rafa, you can demand it. You also talk about many things, you put yourself in a situation of what the last year could be like, to enjoy these moments of competition, because once you retire, there is nothing that can match it.

You won’t find that feeling on a centre court with 15,000 people, that adrenaline of the last set in the tie-break. You can be happy with many other things, but that feeling is unrepeatable. I will try to make him ensure that he enjoys those moments. Every moment you spend on those centre courts is about having a good time, having fun and being with your family, because we are all going to be supporting him. It’s time to try to have fun.

During this time, Rafa has been somewhat more disconnected from the circuit. There are games that he has been watching, but in general we have all been resting and more focused on where he is. When you are fighting to be No. 1 and win Grand Slams, you are much more immersed in tennis. This time, we have all rested a little more.

Facing this generation are challenges that he loves. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, he has already experienced them. We have trained with Holger Rune this week and he is one of those who is called to fight to be at the top. It motivates him. I think he is going to be ready for it.

Aside from this, I don’t think the circuit has changed much in the past year. Novak Djokovic continues to win, Alcaraz has reaffirmed himself after a spectacular first year, and perhaps the one who has taken a step forward is Sinner, but he is someone who was already known about. Those of us who know him knew that, sooner or later, he was going to win important tournaments. I think that has been the only change. There is still Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev, so more or less everything remains the same as when Rafa left.

One of the places that I am excited to visit again is Melbourne, without a doubt, then we will have to see. We will have to go week by week, watching the games he plays, being very careful with the loads of the games, with the breaks, the overloads. We have always looked at it, but this time it will be essential if the idea is to get to Roland-Garros in the best possible way. It’s going to be key to be careful with all of that. I would love for him to be able to play all the tournaments he wants to play, but I don’t think it will be possible. Right now, everything will depend on how the games go and that there are no physical setbacks.

I don’t see anything impossible. I have always said that nothing would surprise me about Rafa, nor has he surprised me. I always expect the best from him. But this time, it’s different. The process we are following is for him to be competitive at a very high level, starting in March or April. Everything that comes from now on is a prize, but it is a hard process where the draws are going to play an important part in reaching the best level. I have no doubt that he will return to a very good level, the only question is when. I see it being difficult in these first two months. But I have no doubt that, if there are no physical setbacks, he will achieve it sooner or later.

With his return to the tour, I have seen him feel like a tennis player again. That illusion of seeing yourself as a tennis player. Three months ago, he didn’t feel like a player. When you go through an operation like that and you haven’t competed for so long, it’s a feeling that disappears. You have your doubts, you wonder if your body is going to respond to you, if the level is going to be good. This has gone away in recent weeks; it has gone away in these days that we have been in Brisbane. That excitement and joy on his face when he sees that he is training and that things are going well is something that gives us all satisfaction.

Being in Australia for us is a victory. We have lived through very difficult moments after the operation where we all thought it could be over. In this tournament, every tournament we play is a victory. But once he plays, I see him being at a good level. We don’t know when it will be, but I am convinced that he will be able to fight to be at the top in the tournaments.

He has always said that the Olympic Games make him very excited and he is going to fight to be in them. Being at Roland-Garros makes everything more special. He doesn’t need that motivation because he is someone capable of motivating himself in the first round of any tournament, but it is clear that it can become a realistic and important goal for him.