Nadal looks more "vulnerable" while Djokovic still has aura of "invincibility", says Tommy Paul's coach
Tommy Paul's coach Brad Stine believes that Rafael Nadal has grown more vulnerable to rising competition on tour in recent times, while claiming that the Spaniard's biggest rival, Novak Djokovic, is still looking unstoppable.
It is evident that the 36-year-old has struggled to find form over the past few months. The Spaniard's underwhelming campaign at the 2023 Australian Open and injury setbacks even forced him out of the top 10 of the ATP rankings for the first time in almost 18 years.
Speaking to the Tennis Channel Inside-In podcast, Stine opined that the Spaniard has been caught in limbo with the drop in form and persistent injury concerns, leaving him in a vulnerable state like never before.
"Rafa, like we said, is a little bit in limbo on where he's gonna go. But, he's certainly been much more vulnerable over the last six or eight months. I think he lost to five Americans in a row, something like that, maybe was four, I'm not sure. So, there's a vulnerability there with him that wasn't there before," the American coach said.
Contrary to the Spaniard, Djokovic still has the "aura of invincibility," according to Stine.
"Novak still has that aura of invincibility," he opined.
Stine feels that every other player on tour except Djokovic is "vulnerable," including the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner, who are currently playing the best tennis of their careers.
"I think everybody else that's in the draws, as good as Medvedev is, as good as Alcaraz is, as good as Sinner is, anybody else that you can name in the top 10, I think that everybody, not just the American guys, I feel that every single one of those guys in vulnerable," he added.
Always had most difficulty with Nadal, although Djokovic is the best: Thomaz Bellucci
Former tennis player Thomaz Bellucci recently had his say on the Nadal-Djokovic debate, with the Brazilian rooting for the World No. 1. However, the 35-year-old opined that it was always the "most difficult" to play against the Spaniard.
"For me, the best is Djokovic. But the one I always had the most difficulty with was Nadal, because of my style of play,'' Thomaz Bellucci said in an interview with ESPN.
In their six meetings on tour, Bellucci failed to register a single win over Nadal. Things were no different against Djokovic either, with the Brazilian losing in all of their six encounters.
Djokovic will be in action next at the upcoming Monte-Carlo Masters, where he is the top seed. 11-time winner Nadal, on the other hand, continues his injury recovery and has opted out of the season's first clay Masters 1000 event.