Calendar Grand Slam is ‘realistic’ for Rafa Nadal says former world number one
Former world number one Carlos Moya has claimed that a historic Calendar Grand Slam is “realistic goal” for Rafael Nadal as he insisted that the 36-year-old “does not lose sleep” over the prospect of winning Wimbledon and moving one step closer to history.
After winning historic titles at the Australian Open in January and the French Open earlier this month, Nadal is halfway towards a illustrious Calendar Grand Slam – a feat that only Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) have achieved in the men’s singles.
Current world number three Novak Djokovic came close in 2015 and 2016 as he held all four majors at the same time but was then unable to seal the Calendar Grand Slam last year when losing the US Open final to Daniil Medvedev.
Nadal will be looking for a record-extending 23rd Grand Slam title win at Wimbledon and his first title at SW19 in 12 years to keep his hopes of an historic Calendar Grand Slam alive.
Reflecting on Nadal’s season so far, his current coach and French Open champion Carlos Moya has said that a Calendar Slam is “not the primary objective” but “a realistic goal” for Rafael Nadal.
Speaking in a recent interview, Moya told reporters, “It is a realistic goal, right now he is the only one that can achieve it this year,” Moya said. “It is the first time in his career that he is in a position to achieve it, but we see it as something far away, it is only halfway.
“At the moment he doesn’t lose sleep, as a team few things keep us up at night and this is not one of them. We have to go little by little, it is not something that we talk about, it is not a primary objective, although we are not going to give up on it.”
Moya also discussed Nadal’s training and preparations ahead of his first appearance at Wimbledon since 2019 as he claimed it will take time for the 14-time French Open champion to adapt to the grass in England.
“We had a pretty good week of training in Mallorca, although the grass there is a bit different from London, maybe that’s why it’s taking a little bit for him to adapt to the grass in England.
“Right now, the important thing is that he spends time on the court and that his foot is fine, little by little he will pick up the pace, we also hope that the draw will help, especially in the first games.
“At Wimbledon there can always be more surprises. Regardless of the player you get in those first rounds, what is dangerous is the type of opponent you get, you have to be careful with the sluggers. Now he has two important exhibition matches, my confidence in him for Wimbledon remains the highest. He is perfectly suited to grass.”
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