Toni Nadal spent the bulk of his coaching career trying to find ways to help his nephew defeat Novak Djokovic.
However, with Rafael Nadal now firmly retired, uncle Toni has no real horse in the race anymore.
His views on the sport, and the Serbian in particular, can be taken without bias, even in relation to Roland Garros, where Rafa is a 14-time champion.
This year will be the second without the legendary Spaniard present, and therefore another opportunity for a new winner.
Who would win this legendary showdown?
With that being said, it seems impossible to look past anyone other than Jannik Sinner for the title, given his current form.
Toni Nadal has now emerged to discuss this upcoming Grand Slam, and has actually rated Novak Djokovic’s chances of doing the unthinkable and shocking the world number one in Paris.
Toni Nadal rates Novak Djokovic’s chances at Roland Garros this year
Chatting to Spanish outlet Radioestadio Noche once again, Toni was actually discussing Sinner when he turned his attention to Djokovic.
After all, he must see the 38-year-old as the only potential challenger to the Italian, and even that seems unlikely given his current form.
Djokovic has played just one clay-court match all season, losing early in Rome to Dino Prizmic.
And yet, despite this, Toni recalled his narrow straight-sets loss to Sinner in last year’s Roland Garros semi-final, stating: “I think the one who played well against him was Djokovic last year, when he played a slightly slower game with slightly higher balls.
“It’s clear that what Sinner does best is play at a very high tempo, and let’s not forget that, if we have to classify Medvedev among clay-court players, he isn’t in the top ten.
“I remember his frustration at playing on clay, but he’s no [David] Ferrer, [Andy] Murray, [Stan] Wawrinka or [Juan Martin] Del Potro; on clay, I mean. He gave Sinner a bit of a run for his money, but in sport everything can change overnight.
“You have to look at the calibre of the players you’re up against. And I remember that last year Djokovic clearly put Sinner under pressure. Anything can happen, and the players coming up behind must fight as if it were the match of their lives. And then we’ll see.”
Who is Novak Djokovic’s new coach Viktor Troicki?
Despite Toni’s vote of confidence, it seems even Djokovic does not trust his own physicality at the moment following his recent comments ahead of Roland Garros.
Alas, at 38 years of age, that is to be expected.
So, in an effort to try and inject some new life into his camp, Djokovic has opted to hire a new coach, welcoming Viktor Troicki to his staff.
Does Novak Djokovic’s appointment of Viktor Troicki make him a favourite to win Roland Garros?
A big move right before the French Open begins!
The 40-year-old, who only retired five years ago, enjoyed a long and largely successful career at the apex of tennis, winning three ATP titles, reaching the fourth round of multiple majors, and enjoying a career-high ranking of 12th.
However, perhaps most important was his tenure with the Davis Cup.
There, the Serbian played alongside Djokovic as they won the 2010 iteration of the event, a title he described as one of the ‘fondest and most beautiful memories from the tennis court’.
Troicki captained that Serbia side to victory over the French in the final, and will hope to bring great experience as well as new energy into his camp.
