Carlos Costa and Carlos Moyá highlight Nadal's secrets: “Always fight”

Carlos Costa and Carlos Moyá passed by Eurosport Players Cut this Thursday to analyze together with Mats Wilander and Justine Henin the figure of their pupil Rafa Nadal. The Balearic tennis player's agent and coach reviewed how Rafa's beginnings were and how he began to build his strength on the courts.

Costa confessed that they did not expect Nadal to go so high and win 19 Grand Slam. “I don't think it was clear. No one expected this. I think that in the history of tennis there have been many great players who can dominate for two or three years but in the end someone causes a great change And the people we all know and the generation we meet with Roger, Rafa and Nole have been dominating the circuit and winning the Grand Slam. When I signed Rafa in 2005 of course I thought he had something special and that he could be one of the best players and that he could win a Grand Slam but I never thought of six, seven, eight, nine, ten … nineteen! Especially coming from Spain, where there have been players with one or two Grand Slam. We didn't have much of a history of Grand Slam winners. It was difficult for us. “

For his part, Moyá highlighted Nadla's competitive gene and believes that the influence of her family played an important role, with professional athletes (her uncle Miguel Ángel was a player in Mallorca and Barcelona). “I think Rafa was born like that, with that energy. You can learn many things, that's for sure, but you have to have it. In addition, his experience is very good. He has family members who used to play professional sports and that surely helps. He is like that. If we could teach this we would have many Rafas and we don't have that at all. That is something that is or is not in us. It's amazing. No one could have expected a guy from Mallorca to win 19 Grand Slam, 12 Roland Garros. It was also a big surprise for me that Wimbledon won. I think these are not things to be learned. “

The extenista also confessed how the fact of growing up and living in Mallorca has helped him maintain his humility and his ability to fight and give everything in games. “Her humility has naturally acquired her. Her experience is very good. Mallorca is a quiet island and due to the climate we have here we take things very calmly. We like to relax and in that sense Rafa is like that. But then, once he steps on the track, he turns into a beast. It gives more than one hundred percent. Never give up. He is always fighting. Even when he loses he tries to do his best. I as a coach or Carlos as his agent know that he will give his best. Jumping onto the court knowing that is something you cannot find in many players “

Costa also revealed an anecdote highlighting Nadal's dedication to tennis since he was little. “I spent a lot of time with Rafa when I was 14,15 or 16 years old and in that period of time in Mallorca, in Manacor, there were no hotels. Every time I went to Mallorca I would stay at his house and then we would go to the tennis club. I was with him since he woke up and you could already see how concentrated he was. At the age of 15 or 16 we were having breakfast and he was already thinking about training that day. It was like 'I'm only thinking about today, I need to work my cut, my service'. He has something special mentally and in terms of concentration and that desire to improve every day. “