I don't see you as a potential n°1 player in the world

M

mattennis

Hall of Fame
I am positively surprised of the quality of this interview to Tony Nadal. You all should listen to the whole interview (sadly the automatic translation into English is not very accurate in many sentences, so you will miss a lot if you don't understand spoken Spanish).

He said so many important, crucial things about life in general, character, effort, the problems in today's society, what the problems are in the new generations education and formation (not only in tennis but in general).

I really loved it all.

The title of this thread is about a moment (around minute 36 ) when Tony tells that when Felix Auger wanted to work with him, Tony asked him what would be his objective.

Felix said he wanted Toni to help him become the number one player in the world.

Tony said "do you want me to be sincere? I don't see you as a number one player in the world, if you work hard and improve a lot of things I can see you in the top 10, and maybe along the years.... who knows"

 
But you have to understand the whole interview, because it was in line with many of the things he was saying in general.

For example, he said many educators (in many areas) today tend to tell their students that they are better than they really are, and this makes them (even the best ones) tend to stagnate, or even to get worse.

I am a university professor and I agree with almost all the things he said (because I see it every day). This is happening in general (and not only in one single country).
 
DSH said:
So, would you prefer a liar, a fraud, a charlatan than someone who tells you things clearly, without false expectations or delusions?
:rolleyes:
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Yes.

Lies are needed to motivate people. Felix is a player who became world number 6, it is anything more than what this loser Toni has achieved in his life. He doesn't get to tell Felix that he cannot be rank 1, that kind of a pessimistic guy is not needed.
 
ojo rojo said:
Felix should be paying those coaching fees to Boris instead
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But seriously, why would Boris waste his time and expertise on Felix? His ranking is dipping and his ability/talent level isn't top 10 for extended periods, as he's proven. Boris could coach Rune or Sinner, even Rublev. But Felix?

I've always liked Tio Toni and I think it's fabulous he calls it as he sees it and is honest about FAA. Felix thinking he could ever be #1 is.... interesting, for lack of a better word. He's 13-11 on the year. Rune is two years younger and is 38-12 in 2023.
 
Razer said:
Yes.

Lies are needed to motivate people. Felix is a player who became world number 6, it is anything more than what this loser Toni has achieved in his life. He doesn't get to tell Felix that he cannot be rank 1, that kind of a pessimistic guy is not needed.
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Toni is probably wrong too. A prodigy who broke out at 17 absolutely can be better than world no.6

Felix is in a bad, bad situation and he needs to get the hell out of the Toni craphole.

But at this point, Felix feels like a gone case. Unfortunate.
 
Sampras-Bruguera 1993 said:
I could easily see him #1 if you sped the surfaces up. Look what he did to teeth indoors last year. Tiny is still trying to lodge the tennis ball out of his taint
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LOL

He does have a 3-1 H2H vs Carlos which is going to age really well. Something about his big serve and power bothered 21-22 Carlos.

But as we saw in Indian Wells, Carlos is just at a different level now.
 
Didn't he even used to downplay Rafa's chances in matches when he was his coach ?
mattennis said:
He said so many important, crucial things about life in general, character, effort, the problems in today's society, what the problems are in the new generations education and formation (not only in tennis but in general).

I really loved it all.
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Speaking of "character", Rafa and Toni himself have said that Toni was "terrifying" and "tough", it doesn't quite give me a good image of him.
 
Kralingen said:
LOL

He does have a 3-1 H2H vs Carlos which is going to age really well. Something about his big serve and power bothered 21-22 Carlos.

But as we saw in Indian Wells, Carlos is just at a different level now.
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Alcaraz' struggles last year are overstated. He was admittedly in a mental crisis after the Open and succumbed to injuries midway through the indoor stretch.

He was the next gen champion in 2021 and was highly comfortable under the roof at SW19 this year. I have no doubt in Raz being a future YEC winner.

Speaking of the H2H, only the Basel and the Indian Wells matches this year are legit imo. Raz retired in 2021 after two 5-setters. That's one loss and another one is at the Davis Cup. It was the first match after the Open iirc. Who cares about Davis Cup anyway?
 
BeatlesFan said:
But seriously, why would Boris waste his time and expertise on Felix? His ranking is dipping and his ability/talent level isn't top 10 for extended periods, as he's proven. Boris could coach Rune or Sinner, even Rublev. But Felix?

I've always liked Tio Toni and I think it's fabulous he calls it as he sees it and is honest about FAA. Felix thinking he could ever be #1 is.... interesting, for lack of a better word. He's 13-11 on the year. Rune is two years younger and is 38-12 in 2023.
Click to expand...

Rune is a full 3 years younger than Felix and already ahead of him on the growth curve.

I agree Boris should coach Rune. Felix should kick Toni as well and seek a more positive motivator.
 
FeroBango said:
Alcaraz' struggles last year are overstated. He was admittedly in a mental crisis after the Open and succumbed to injuries midway through the indoor stretch.

He was the next gen champion in 2021 and was highly comfortable under the roof at SW19 this year. I have no doubt in Raz being a future YEC winner.

Speaking of the H2H, only the Basel and the Indian Wells matches this year are legit imo. Raz retired in 2021 after two 5-setters. That's one loss and another one is at the Davis Cup. It was the first match after the Open iirc. Who cares about Davis Cup anyway?
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His serve was clearly worse last year, with a few outlier matches (Brooksby USO match comes to mind) and he lacked any sort of reliable ad-court return. I don’t think the struggles were overblown, he was running on fumes essentially the entire season after Madrid.

He couldn’t deal with return pressure from Rune FAA or Sinner on the quick low bouncing surfaces because his serve didn’t get enough action on those surfaces, heavily relying on the kick serve which was ineffective on those. Ultimately he didn’t have the placement yet.

We can criticize the second half of his 2022; he was a flawed player. It just goes to show how amazing his improvements in 2023 have been.
 
Kralingen said:
His serve was clearly worse last year, with a few outlier matches (Brooksby USO match comes to mind) and he lacked any sort of reliable ad-court return. I don’t think the struggles were overblown, he was running on fumes essentially the entire season after Madrid.

He couldn’t deal with return pressure from Rune FAA or Sinner on the quick low bouncing surfaces because his serve didn’t get enough action on those surfaces, heavily relying on the kick serve which was ineffective on those. Ultimately he didn’t have the placement yet.

We can criticize the second half of his 2022; he was a flawed player. It just goes to show how amazing his improvements in 2023 have been.
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Either overstating how "flawed" he was or overexaggerating a bit on his improvements. He's been improving year after year, but we could say that literally nobody else has except for Tiafoe who has his own flaws.

I dunno. I'm probably a bit nitpicky with my comment. He's definitely ahead of the pack right now though.
 
Oh Uncle Toni..


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margaret-white-pray-jesus-eleanor-snell-carrie-horror-movie1976salvation-christian-prayer-mother-redhead-classic-film-brian-depalma-acting-dramatic.gif
 
Kralingen said:
His serve was clearly worse last year, with a few outlier matches (Brooksby USO match comes to mind) and he lacked any sort of reliable ad-court return. I don’t think the struggles were overblown, he was running on fumes essentially the entire season after Madrid.

He couldn’t deal with return pressure from Rune FAA or Sinner on the quick low bouncing surfaces because his serve didn’t get enough action on those surfaces, heavily relying on the kick serve which was ineffective on those. Ultimately he didn’t have the placement yet.

We can criticize the second half of his 2022; he was a flawed player. It just goes to show how amazing his improvements in 2023 have been.
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You're spot on. My point is that, that flawed player of post-Madrid-2022 is irrelevant when discussing his future indoor prospects.

He ran on fumes indeed, but especially more so after the Open, exacerbating the deficiencies that existed in his indoor game.

Although the Next Gen Finals are the mickiest of all micky mouse tournaments, he's still won it. But that alone doesn't give me the confidence that his performance under the roof on English lawns do.
 
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it doesnt matter how young FAA is.. after a few years on tour you can tell if they can be a champion or not..
i dont think he has the game or the mental toughness to be #1 and toni knows it
 
fundrazer said:
Either overstating how "flawed" he was or overexaggerating a bit on his improvements. He's been improving year after year, but we could say that literally nobody else has except for Tiafoe who has his own flaws.

I dunno. I'm probably a bit nitpicky with my comment. He's definitely ahead of the pack right now though.
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I think there’s a clear line of demarcation with Raz in 2022 - Rio-Madrid Carlos and then everything that came after that. I actually don’t know if he has improved much from that first spring run in 2022. He surely has improved as a player but those heights he hit were something else.

However, mainly due to the elbow injury he wasn’t the same post RG (same with post USO). It was also technical and mental - his elongated strokes hampering his shot tolerance and reliability, and general lack of nuance in tempering his effort and knowing when to, and when not to, blast the ball. Made a ton of return errors that this year he’s blocking back or landing in play.

His serve was also not consistently good, it clearly improved a lot this year placement-wise. And still he won the USO and YE #1 because he’s that much of a firecracker of a talent and his athleticism and shotmaking are legitimately special.

Flawed doesn’t mean “not great” - I remember remarking that most points he loses are avoidable mistakes, and once he learns to just keep the ball in front of him and be reliable in rallies he’ll be nigh unstoppable. He didn’t do that consistently and fell into trouble on serve a lot of the time. This year, he is markedly improved on both counts, although I wouldn’t say his baseline game, speed, drop shots, or volley are really that different. What happened is that he tightened up the screws and made his game far more robust and efficient.
 
mattennis said:
I am positively surprised of the quality of this interview to Tony Nadal. You all should listen to the whole interview (sadly the automatic translation into English is not very accurate in many sentences, so you will miss a lot if you don't understand spoken Spanish).

He said so many important, crucial things about life in general, character, effort, the problems in today's society, what the problems are in the new generations education and formation (not only in tennis but in general).

I really loved it all.

The title of this thread is about a moment (around minute 36 ) when Tony tells that when Felix Auger wanted to work with him, Tony asked him what would be his objective.

Felix said he wanted Toni to help him become the number one player in the world.

Tony said "do you want me to be sincere? I don't see you as a number one player in the world, if you work hard and improve a lot of things I can see you in the top 10, and maybe along the years.... who knows"

Click to expand...
Toni is often 'in-your-face' with his comments , sometimes bordering on being rude but at least no sugar-coating.

I can see how it can be demoralizing for a young/new player but FAA should be used to it by now. He still has the option of looking for a new coach who motivates him with the kind of words he wants to hear.
 
mattennis said:
For example, he said many educators (in many areas) today tend to tell their students that they are better than they really are, and this makes them (even the best ones) tend to stagnate, or even to get worse.
Click to expand...
i'm sure this is because he's a clear-headed, trustworthy, and unbiased source who's just saying it like it is, and not because he was an abusive coach to Nadal who's ideologically invested in lowering the self-worth and autonomy of his charges!
 
Razer said:
Yes.

Lies are needed to motivate people. Felix is a player who became world number 6, it is anything more than what this loser Toni has achieved in his life. He doesn't get to tell Felix that he cannot be rank 1, that kind of a pessimistic guy is not needed.
Click to expand...

Is that what kids need today to get motivated? In my day, the biggest motivator was to tell us kids we couldn’t do something. Nothing would get me to try harder than to be told “You’ll never do this.”
I guess today’s kids just give up too easily.
 
Tony also said several times during the interview that, even though Rafa has an immense innate talent for sports and tennis in particular, that he thinks Federer and Djokovic are more naturally gifted players in terms of naturally and effortlessly striking the ball better.
 
Dartagnan64 said:
Is that what kids need today to get motivated? In my day, the biggest motivator was to tell us kids we couldn’t do something. Nothing would get me to try harder than to be told “You’ll never do this.”
I guess today’s kids just give up too easily.
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If someone is a coach saying such things, he should be fired. Your must be KID when they told your this and probably were not trying AT ALL before.
 
The reality is, of course, that the overwhelming majority of pros won't reach the top spot. I don't think it's wrong for a coach to be realistic about what they can offer to the player seeking their coaching. I definitely see how someone like Felix would benefit from a coach that would inspire him psychologically. But that's an individual personality thing, not a universal requirement for tennis coaches. Toni is not that kind of guy, and he didn't put on a front just to get hired. It was only fair, and it was up to Felix to make his move.

Toni saying what he said and Felix proceeding to hire him just shows whether Felix himself truly saw himself as a #1 potential.
 
Correct or not, it's pretty clear what motivates these comments from Toni. Reputational damage control. The guy always has and always will put himself first. He's perfectly willing to trash his own player's skillset and make all kinds of other bizarre remarks publicly if it's convenient and beneficial to him.
 
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Mivic said:
Correct or not, it's pretty clear what motivates these comments from Toni. Reputational damage control. The guy always has and always will put himself first. He's perfectly willing to trash his own player's skillset and make all kinds of other bizarre remarks publicly if it's convenient and beneficial to him.
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There's probably a bit of that, yeah. Having been the coach of an ATG and the greatest clay court player of all time (that happened to be his own nephew on top of that) made him self-complacent, he feels a sense of superiority. He and FAA don't seem to be on an equal footing and their relationship seems unhealthy as a result. But I'm not even sure it's something he does consciously, he doesn't seem to be a malicious person.
 
What is to be gained by saying this publicly about FAA’s ceiling? It sounds to me like an excuse for Toni Nadal‘s inability to coach him to a higher ranking. If he really believes this and thinks it is useful to let FAA know, he can tell him privately. There is no reason to diminish him in the media like this as it is definitely going to dent his self-confidence and I don’t see any positive outcome coming from a coach making negative comments like this to the media. This guy has such a strong ego that he protects always with his comments - a jerk numero uno!
 
Silverbullet96 said:
I used to think Uncle Toni was harsh with this quote but I believe him after today's match.
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Novak asked FAA do you want to face Sinner and FAA politely refused.
FAA needs to find that spark which is needed in tough situation like yesterday match.
And he has to do more work on his backhand. His Forehand is as good as anyone and his serve was elite .Still Novak found a way to win
 
gamelovergold said:
Novak asked FAA do you want to face Sinner and FAA politely refused.
FAA needs to find that spark which is needed in tough situation like yesterday match.
And he has to do more work on his backhand. His Forehand is as good as anyone and his serve was elite .Still Novak found a way to win
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His forehand isn't very good either. Better than his BH, but most of the time it doesn't go too far from the service box, even if it's an easy shot. He has a good serve but his serve + 1 is not as good at it can be.
 
Razer said:
What a bad coach .... I would have never hired him if I was Felix.
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big ted said:
it doesnt matter how young FAA is.. after a few years on tour you can tell if they can be a champion or not..
i dont think he has the game or the mental toughness to be #1 and toni knows it
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I'm trying to figure out when in tennis could FAA rise to no 1! Maybe between Sampras and Federer, I don't think he was any worse than Roddick or Hewitt, who were both no 1!

FAA was never going to be a perennial numero uno, but he could be no 1, for a few months. But not in this era with A&S!
 
SonnyT said:
I'm trying to figure out when in tennis could FAA rise to no 1! Maybe between Sampras and Federer, I don't think he was any worse than Roddick or Hewitt, who were both no 1!

FAA was never going to be a perennial numero uno, but he could be no 1, for a few months. But not in this era with A&S!
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At the beginning i remember FAA being compared to Sampras :p
 
mattennis said:
The title of this thread is about a moment (around minute 36 ) when Tony tells that when Felix Auger wanted to work with him, Tony asked him what would be his objective.

Felix said he wanted Toni to help him become the number one player in the world.

Tony said "do you want me to be sincere? I don't see you as a number one player in the world, if you work hard and improve a lot of things I can see you in the top 10, and maybe along the years.... who knows"
Click to expand...

To which the joyful Felix then replied, "So there is a chance!".

 
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