Carlos Moya exclusive - Rafael Nadal’s Calendar Grand Slam goal is ‘realistic’ ahead of bid to win Wimbledon

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
Carlos Moya exclusive - Rafael Nadal’s Calendar Grand Slam goal is ‘realistic’ ahead of bid to win Wimbledon

After winning the Australian Open and French Open, Rafael Nadal would need to win Wimbledon to move one step closer to a historic Calendar Grand Slam, last achieved in the men’s singles by Rod Laver in 1969. Novak Djokovic, who held all four titles between 2015 and 2016, poses as the Spaniard’s greatest threat at SW19 this coming fortnight.


By
Michael Hincks

Updated 22/06/2022 at 13:36 GMT+1

Rafael Nadal is not losing sleep over the prospect of a Wimbledon triumph moving him closer to completing a Calendar Grand Slam, his coach Carlos Moya told Eurosport Spain.
After winning the Australian Open and French Open, Nadal is halfway towards a feat that only Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) have achieved in the men’s singles.
Novak Djokovic has held all four majors at the same time, across 2015 and 2016, and was then unable to seal the Calendar Grand Slam last year when losing the US Open final to Daniil Medvedev.

With Wimbledon starting next week, Djokovic will be looking to deny Nadal his third major of the year, and the latter goes in as the slight underdog given he has not won there for 12 years.

“It is a realistic goal, right now he is the only one that can achieve it this year,” Moya said. “It is the first time in his career that he is in a position to achieve it, but we see it as something far away, it is only halfway.

“At the moment he doesn't lose sleep, as a team few things keep us up at night and this is not one of them. We have to go little by little, it is not something that we talk about, it is not a primary objective, although we are not going to give up on it.”

Nadal has not played since Roland-Garros, but he is set to play the invitation event at Hurlingham Club this week, offering the Spaniard a chance to get to grips with the London grass ahead of Wimbledon.

“We had a pretty good week of training in Mallorca, although the grass there is a bit different from London, maybe that's why it's taking a little bit for him to adapt to the grass in England.

“Right now, the important thing is that he spends time on the court and that his foot is fine, little by little he will pick up the pace, we also hope that the draw will help, especially in the first games.

“At Wimbledon there can always be more surprises. Regardless of the player you get in those first rounds, what is dangerous is the type of opponent you get, you have to be careful with the sluggers. Now he has two important exhibition matches, my confidence in him for Wimbledon remains the highest. He is perfectly suited to grass.”


 

Thriller

Hall of Fame
“At Wimbledon there can always be more surprises. Regardless of the player you get in those first rounds, what is dangerous is the type of opponent you get, you have to be careful with the sluggers. Now he has two important exhibition matches, my confidence in him for Wimbledon remains the highest. He is perfectly suited to grass.”

So true. Players with a big serve and not a lot else are more dangerous in the first few rounds than at any other tournament. People who talk about Wimbledon being "green clay" haven't got a clue.
 
Carlos Moya exclusive - Rafael Nadal’s Calendar Grand Slam goal is ‘realistic’ ahead of bid to win Wimbledon

After winning the Australian Open and French Open, Rafael Nadal would need to win Wimbledon to move one step closer to a historic Calendar Grand Slam, last achieved in the men’s singles by Rod Laver in 1969. Novak Djokovic, who held all four titles between 2015 and 2016, poses as the Spaniard’s greatest threat at SW19 this coming fortnight.


By
Michael Hincks

Updated 22/06/2022 at 13:36 GMT+1

Rafael Nadal is not losing sleep over the prospect of a Wimbledon triumph moving him closer to completing a Calendar Grand Slam, his coach Carlos Moya told Eurosport Spain.
After winning the Australian Open and French Open, Nadal is halfway towards a feat that only Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) have achieved in the men’s singles.
Novak Djokovic has held all four majors at the same time, across 2015 and 2016, and was then unable to seal the Calendar Grand Slam last year when losing the US Open final to Daniil Medvedev.

With Wimbledon starting next week, Djokovic will be looking to deny Nadal his third major of the year, and the latter goes in as the slight underdog given he has not won there for 12 years.

“It is a realistic goal, right now he is the only one that can achieve it this year,” Moya said. “It is the first time in his career that he is in a position to achieve it, but we see it as something far away, it is only halfway.

“At the moment he doesn't lose sleep, as a team few things keep us up at night and this is not one of them. We have to go little by little, it is not something that we talk about, it is not a primary objective, although we are not going to give up on it.”

Nadal has not played since Roland-Garros, but he is set to play the invitation event at Hurlingham Club this week, offering the Spaniard a chance to get to grips with the London grass ahead of Wimbledon.

“We had a pretty good week of training in Mallorca, although the grass there is a bit different from London, maybe that's why it's taking a little bit for him to adapt to the grass in England.

“Right now, the important thing is that he spends time on the court and that his foot is fine, little by little he will pick up the pace, we also hope that the draw will help, especially in the first games.

“At Wimbledon there can always be more surprises. Regardless of the player you get in those first rounds, what is dangerous is the type of opponent you get, you have to be careful with the sluggers. Now he has two important exhibition matches, my confidence in him for Wimbledon remains the highest. He is perfectly suited to grass.”




I liked what Moya said. " He's perfectly suited for grass"
Vamossssss
 
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DMTNA

Rookie
Well, i have to say, i admire Carlos Moya.
He was one rare person who believed in the historic QF victory against Djokovic. I, myself was doubting too but after reading that interview, i felt that Nadal could beat Djokovic.
The Bull did it.
But this time, i feel that Moya should not have put the early pressure on Nadal, especially right before Wimbledon. We never know what might happen to his foot.
 

prosperned

Professional
The Nadal will not make the mistake Djokovic did by playing Olympics singles/doubles/mixed doubles all at the same time. It's time for CYGS. Vamos.
Nadal would play if it was this year. He was set to overplay had he not been injured too. Probably might’ve run out of gas for the USOpen but he got fortunate with the months layoff. Nadal and Djoko are competitive beasts. They don’t know rest even if it’s good for them
 
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Start da Game

Hall of Fame
he definitely sounds more optimistic than uncle toni ever did even in rafa's prime.....he seemed very timid when he first took over and i was upset with what seemed to be his inability to fire up rafa for big slam contests....seems like he has put in some serious work behind the scenes.....
 

PerilousPear

Professional
Well he can’t because there is no Olympics. lol

Yeah, that's why I'm saying it. But if there was, Nadal wouldn't play that much regardless. MAYBE he'd play singles and skip Canada or something, but he'd never burden his schedule that much.

I think Novak would've won the CYGS if he skipped Olympics or only played singles. 2 matches every day for a whole week was simply too much even his coaches agreed on that.
 

Fiero425

Legend
Yeah, that's why I'm saying it. But if there was, Nadal wouldn't play that much regardless. MAYBE he'd play singles and skip Canada or something, but he'd never burden his schedule that much.

I think Novak would've won the CYGS if he skipped Olympics or only played singles. 2 matches every day for a whole week was simply too much even his coaches agreed on that.

It's the regret which was on Novak's mind probably if he won USO after skipping Olympics! He was assuming a lot IMO w/ BO3 where anyone like Sascha could get hot! :unsure:
 

Fiero425

Legend
Are you sure it's not the other way round?

It's happened before and it'll happen again! Novak had a great seasonal start in 2011, winning AO and the 1st 2 Masters and he was ranked 3rd behind Nadal! He didn't acquire the #1 ranking until the SF of Wimbledon which he won over Nadal in the final! :unsure: :cautious::rolleyes::laughing:
 

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
It's happened before and it'll happen again! Novak had a great seasonal start in 2011, winning AO and the 1st 2 Masters and he was ranked 3rd behind Nadal! He didn't acquire the #1 ranking until the SF of Wimbledon which he won over Nadal in the final! :unsure: :cautious::rolleyes::laughing:
Ask Med if he would love to play Rafa any time soon.
 
It is realistic. This is Nadal’s best chance since 2018 to win Wimbledon and the recent AO win means he won’t sweat it about not winning the title since 2010.
 

Entername

Professional
Yeah, that's why I'm saying it. But if there was, Nadal wouldn't play that much regardless. MAYBE he'd play singles and skip Canada or something, but he'd never burden his schedule that much.

I think Novak would've won the CYGS if he skipped Olympics or only played singles. 2 matches every day for a whole week was simply too much even his coaches agreed on that.
Nole was never gonna skip the Olympics regardless. He really wants a gold medal because it's literally the only thing in tennis he hasn't won yet, he is way too patriotic for Serbia, and why not go for the Calendar Golden Slam
 

DogInSpace

Semi-Pro
Wow perfect timing for saying this. This thread is going to be bumped about one week from today when Nadal is beaten by some random servebot who will play match of his life during week one.
 

Entername

Professional
Nadal fans will be unbearable though. lol
Assuming they aren’t already.
Tbh every fan base has its hooligans. Unless I actually see him get hurt (i.e. retires from match, visibly hampered on court, or misses significant time after), I'll never say the "oh Rafa was injured so this win doesn't count" as it's unfair to his opponent.
 

zuluzazu

Hall of Fame
After 4.5 years of not winning a slam? Deserved.

Let me know when one of Nadal or Djokovic goes through something like this.
Maybe deserved but if you are being cocky you need to have the courage to take it back without whining. Although I as a Nadal fan found the WTF thread to be too embarrassing LOL. Some Fed fans deserve what would be coming once Nadal wins but unfortunately there is always collateral damage which is very tough to avoid
 

mike danny

Bionic Poster
Maybe deserved but if you are being cocky you need to have the courage to take it back without whining. Although I as a Nadal fan found the WTF thread to be too embarrassing LOL. Some Fed fans deserve what would be coming once Nadal wins but unfortunately there is always collateral damage which is very tough to avoid
Not saying it was right, but they deserved their time after Federer had gone for so long without winning a slam.

Djokovic and Nadal have been continuously winning so we've had to endure much more arrogance from Djokodal fans.
 

mahatma

Hall of Fame
And Nadal will last exactly 2 slams and 1.5 weeks in CYGS quest. Somewhere around semis I feel the quest ends. Though quite a ride still.
 

vamos22

Rookie
Not saying it was right, but they deserved their time after Federer had gone for so long without winning a slam.

Djokovic and Nadal have been continuously winning so we've had to endure much more arrogance from Djokodal fans.
That’s because Nadal and Djokovic and the number 1 and 2 best players of all time, as proven by the amount of wins they have against fellow ATGs, their longevity and consistency.
Federer had his time in the sun, when an extraordinary piece of fortunate allowed him to mop up slams post Sampras and pre Nadal/Djokovic fully maturing, with virtually no ATG opponents, just your Roddicks your Hewitts your Bagdhatis.
He did well to vulture additional slams in 2009 without Nadal there and in 2017-2018 without Djokovic (he had lost 3 slams to both players within the previous year). He was the ultimate flat track bully but has his place in the top 10 ATGs.
 

PerilousPear

Professional
Nole was never gonna skip the Olympics regardless. He really wants a gold medal because it's literally the only thing in tennis he hasn't won yet, he is way too patriotic for Serbia, and why not go for the Calendar Golden Slam

Not skipping them wasn't the problem, playing mixed doubles was. He basically set himself up for a 4-setter (and that's assuming he wins everything in straights) every single day in extreme heat for a week.
 

THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
Worried are we?

Of course. Fans of a certain player have been in attack/moving the goal posts/revisionist history/wishing doom on Nadal on a 24/7/365 clock, with each second intensifying with Nadal having the majors record on the men's side, and the chance of a certain monogrammed handbag-carrying opponent being bumped to third place of his generation. This fanbase are having night and day terrors about Nadal's continued success.
 

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
Of course. Fans of a certain player have been in attack/moving the goal posts/revisionist history/wishing doom on Nadal on a 24/7/365 clock, with each second intensifying with Nadal having the majors record on the men's side, and the chance of a certain monogrammed handbag-carrying opponent being bumped to third place of his generation. This fanbase are having night and day terrors about Nadal's continued success.
Fingers crossed it will continue.
 

martinezownsclay

Hall of Fame
Fans always get excited about the potential of a Grand Slam, but it has not happened on either the mens or womens side since 1988. They even get overly enthusiastically excited for the ultimate of all long shots to ever do it- Capriati in 2001, when someone wins the years first 2 majors, or in some cases the 1st major. It will likely wind up the same way. Dissapointment for fans who regardless if they are a fan of Nadal or not are craving for this sort of historic thing again. Even when Serena only had to beat Vinci and Pennetta (who was already into the final) to do it, it was not to be. Even when Djokovic only had to beat Medvedev.
 
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