"No matter how much you know him, Rafael Nadal surprises you on a daily basis" - Carlos Moya
Carlos Moya opened up about Rafael Nadal's 2024 comeback in a recent interview, shedding light on the numerous challenges they faced in the last 12 months and how the Spaniard continued to surprise him with his perseverance.
Having last played at the 2023 Australian Open, Nadal will make his return to the ATP Tour at the Brisbane International this year, where he is set to take on former US Open champion Dominic Thiem in his opener.
During his break from the game, the 22-time Grand Slam champion had to go under the knife, following which he spent nearly four months in rehab before he was given the go-ahead by his medical team to travel to Australia.
Speaking to Eurosport ahead of Nadal's Brisbane return, Moya, who has been coaching the 37-year-old since 2016, shared how his ward awed him with all the determination he showed in making his return to the courts once again.
The Spaniard asserted that even though the former World No. 1 faced many challenges on the road, he managed to overcome them all extraordinarily.
"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," Carlos Moya said.
Carlos Moya admitted that there was a time when he did not believe Nadal would become fit enough to start his year Down Under, noting, thereby, that just being in Brisbane now was a victory in his opinion.
"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," Moya said.
"It has been the hardest thing I have experienced with Rafael Nadal" - Carlos Moya on Spaniard's 2024 return
Carlos Moya, in the interview, also proclaimed that this was the "hardest" thing he has had to experience with Rafael Nadal, emphasizing that there was a huge difference between an athlete recovering from surgery at 20 and 37.
"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," Carlos Moya said.
At the same time, Moya, a former French Open champion, knew that his ward would always make his return to the court at some point and never retire with his final hurrah taking place in the comfort of a press room.
"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," Moya said.