The day Toni Nadal discovered Novak Djokovic: “Rafael, we have a problem”

The Wimbledon 2005 tournament already gave us clues about what would end up becoming one of the great rivalries in the history of tennis: the one that faces the Spanish Rafa Nadal and the Serbian Novak Djokovic.

The ATP website collects on its website the account of how it was the first time that Toni Nadal saw Novak Djokovic live. The sebrio arrived at Wimbledon in 2005 as one of the great talents of tennis and 'Tío Toni' went to see him on court 18 during a match against Argentina's Juan Mónaco.

“Who's that boy?” Toni Nadal asked, to which they replied “He is 18 years old and he is the hundredth of the world”, since Djokovic entered the tournament in position 128 of the ranking. “What's his name? Uncle Toni asked, to which” Novak Djokovic “replied.

After seeing several points Toni Nadal returned to the locker room where Rafa Nadal was preparing for his match against Vincent Spadea and when he arrived he said to his nephew. “Rafael, we have a problem. I have seen a very good boy.”

Djokovic beat Monaco in his Wimbledon debut 6-3, 7-6 (5) and 6-3 and also gave the surprise in the second round when he managed to lift his match against Spanish Guillermo García-López after falling by two sets and 5-3 against in the third to take the match 3-6, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) and 6-4.

García-López himself recounts what happened in that match: “It was amazing because I had it practically won. At 5-4 and 40-30 in the third set I made a great serve to the 'T' and I made a half court right to win the point. I looked at the line judge, he called us and I celebrated the victory. ” However, the ball did not enter. “The party continued. I lost concentration in that game and we went to 5-5. I broke and got 6-5 and 40-0 with my serve. I had three more match points. “

García-López ended up surrendering to the figure of Djokovic after that match. “He never gave up and he had great potential. His punches were very solid. Perhaps another player could not have returned them. With that marker, recovering in that match showed his competitive gene. You could see his potential but also that Djokovic believed a lot in himself. same. He has great qualities in agility, mobility and shooting. “