Moya joins Rafa's coaching team

TheNatural said:
Moya might have learned a few new things from coaching Meelosh that he can pass on to Rafa.
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well, between having a pretty good one himself, coaching Milos' strong one, and playing against the guy in your avatar, maybe he can raise Nadal's level of serve...that's about the only thing that Nadal didn't end up doing better...doesn't need any help learning to run around fh's, and Moya did that too much..as Nadal sometimes does too now
 
tennis_pro said:
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Omg is that Arnold ?
 
This could be a dangerous pairing ever.

Carlos_Moya_was_on_French_Open_final_today_tenni.jpg





Do you recall, not long ago
We would walk on the sidewalk
Innocent, remember?
All we did was care for each other

But the night was warm
We were bold and young
All around the wind blows
We would only hold on to let go

[Chorus 2x:]
Blow a kiss, fire a gun
We need someone to lean on
Blow a kiss, fire a gun
All we need is somebody to lean on

(Eeh ooh, eeh ooh, eeh ooh, eeh ooh) [4x]

What will we do when we get old?
Will we walk down the same road?
Will you be there by my side?
Standing strong as the waves roll over

When the nights are long
Longing for you to come home
All around the wind blows
We would only hold on to let go
 
This is good news. Rafael looked up to Moya a lot as a kid and when he was coming up the ranks.
 
Mainad said:
Just surprised that it has taken so long to happen. Moya and Rafa are both Mallorcans and have known each other since Rafa was a kid! They are close friends. Moya being a part of Rafa's team has always seemed a logical move.
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the harder it will be to fire him... this is why there is a rule to not do business with friends. never.
 
citybert said:
Lotta staff and coaches to pay. After a QF exit Nadal is basically playing for nothing.

Yeah yeah he has tons of endorsements and appearance fees etc. More worried about dissention within his own team if anything.
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Toni is a not paid a fee as such, he gets a share in Rafa's father's business instead.
 
If Rafa was going to add an ex-player to his team he couldn't do any better than Charly. Maybe Moya will be with him in Abu Dhabi because Roig always accompanies him. I will be at the tennis in Abu Dhabi; can't wait to see Rafa on court again.
 
I'm not familiar enough with Moya's career and playing style etc., can someone more knowledgeable say what they think he might add/change to Rafa's game? Just curious. I don't think it matters too much because a good coach should be able to help a player of any style, even a style different than their own. For example, look at Boris Becker who was almost exclusively a serve and volley player yet had a huge impact on Nole's game despite Nole never adopting S/V as a tactic. As Rafa the King said above, just having another said of eyes, a former player, trusted friend etc., should help.
 
Uncle Ebeneezer said:
I'm not familiar enough with Moya's career and playing style etc., can someone more knowledgeable say what they think he might add/change to Rafa's game? Just curious. I don't think it matters too much because a good coach should be able to help a player of any style, even a style different than their own. For example, look at Boris Becker who was almost exclusively a serve and volley player yet had a huge impact on Nole's game despite Nole never adopting S/V as a tactic. As Rafa the King said above, just having another said of eyes, a former player, trusted friend etc., should help.
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maybe that wreck of serve now...there isn't anything Nadal hasn't gone on to do better than Moya, including running around backhands to hit inside out fh's..actually Moya was far too extreme in doing that
 
The fact that he is a "good friend" is the worrying bit. Nadal doesn't need more friends around him. He needs a coach who can stand up to him and to Uncle Toni. I don't see that happening. All it needed was for that extra sentence to be added "In addition, my Uncle Toni will be stepping down from my coaching team to provide Carlos with a fresh start as I enter a new phase of my career". That didn't happen.
 
clayqueen said:
Toni is a not paid a fee as such, he gets a share in Rafa's father's business instead.
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Yeah but he does nothing for it technically its still a fee.

I imagine Toni has a more defined role and salary at the new Rafa academy. Plus he hates traveling
 
Uncle Ebeneezer said:
I'm not familiar enough with Moya's career and playing style etc., can someone more knowledgeable say what they think he might add/change to Rafa's game? Just curious. I don't think it matters too much because a good coach should be able to help a player of any style, even a style different than their own. For example, look at Boris Becker who was almost exclusively a serve and volley player yet had a huge impact on Nole's game despite Nole never adopting S/V as a tactic. As Rafa the King said above, just having another said of eyes, a former player, trusted friend etc., should help.
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Moya was basically an aggressive baseliner. He loved clay and excelled on the surface, even though he only won Roland Garros once in his career (his only major). He had a subpar backhand (worse than Nadal's has ever been IMO) but a great forehand to make up for it.
 
Uncle Ebeneezer said:
I'm not familiar enough with Moya's career and playing style etc., can someone more knowledgeable say what they think he might add/change to Rafa's game? Just curious. I don't think it matters too much because a good coach should be able to help a player of any style, even a style different than their own. For example, look at Boris Becker who was almost exclusively a serve and volley player yet had a huge impact on Nole's game despite Nole never adopting S/V as a tactic. As Rafa the King said above, just having another said of eyes, a former player, trusted friend etc., should help.
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Well Moya was an aggressive, very forehand dominant player. Fairly big first serve and came to net more often than the traditional clay court grinder. All things which Nadal could use so I think this pairing could have potential.

Personally, I think there is no reason Nadal could not win another RG if he makes some minor adjustments.
 
citybert said:
Yeah but he does nothing for it technically its still a fee.

I imagine Toni has a more defined role and salary at the new Rafa academy. Plus he hates traveling
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Toni doesn't hate travelling. He hasn't travelled with Rafa everywhere because he has wanted to spend time at home with his three kids (now 12 - 15 years old). The kids (and his wife) have often travelled with him.
You can see his role at the academy here:
https://www.rafanadalacademy.com/web/web-rafa-nadal-academy/about-us
 
ABC, Dec. 19, 2016: ¤¤ Carlos Moya: "I am his friend, but I will demand from Nadal more than anyone else [in his team]" ¤¤ (Google translation from Spanish)

https://twitter.com/abc_deportes/status/810767903633080320
http://www.abc.es/deportes/tenis/abci-moya-nadal-entrenador-201612190828_noticia.html

C.Moya says that he’ll be with Rafa during his training sessions in Mallorca, he is also going to travel with the Rafa team but less than with Raonic, because he has been away from home for 18 weeks [Moya has three little kids]. Probably he’ll make his first appearance as a coach at the Australian Open (January 16-29).
Moya is sure that Rafa can win GS tournaments again and regain the world No.1 ranking.
Moya says that a coach can give a 1% improvement that makes the difference between being number one or two in the world, which is a lot.

:)
 
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NatF said:
Moya and Rafa have been friends for years and was something of a mentor IIRC. Will be interesting to see what he adds as an official coach.
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As I recall, Moya always lamented how Rafa wasted his natural aggression in training sessions, and never brought it out in matches.

If Nadal's taking this additional advice seriously, hopefully we'll see Rafa going for his shots more rather than going retriever mode the moment things stop working for him.
 
Bender said:
As I recall, Moya always lamented how Rafa wasted his natural aggression in training sessions, and never brought it out in matches.

If Nadal's taking this additional advice seriously, hopefully we'll see Rafa going for his shots more rather than going retriever mode the moment things stop working for him.
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I believe this is his only way to win anything significant in the rest of his career. Improving his serve would fairly increase his chances to employ more aggressive strategy and could be a deadly combination with his forehand (assuming that he changes his mindset).
His days of being successful with grinding/retrieving tennis are long behind him.
 
cc0509 said:
Interesting. I hope Moya can help Nadal make another push. The timing is good with Djokovic looking undercooked and the field abysmal.

@batz do you have a link confirming this news? Also, what's going to happen with Nadal's other coach Roig?
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Roig is not going anywhere and remains a key element of the coaching team.
 
I think it's great news.

A very logicall choice really. I mean, is anyone on his team NOT from Mallorca?. Probably the only ex player he'd consider adding.

Bender said:
As I recall, Moya always lamented how Rafa wasted his natural aggression in training sessions, and never brought it out in matches.

If Nadal's taking this additional advice seriously, hopefully we'll see Rafa going for his shots more rather than going retriever mode the moment things stop working for him.
Click to expand...
Yep, IIRC Moyá is on record saying he gets frustrated that Rafa grinds vs minor players, instead of hitting them out of the court.

PS: Did you guys notice how Toni makes it seem like hiring Moyá was his idea?.
 
Bender said:
As I recall, Moya always lamented how Rafa wasted his natural aggression in training sessions, and never brought it out in matches.

If Nadal's taking this additional advice seriously, hopefully we'll see Rafa going for his shots more rather than going retriever mode the moment things stop working for him.
Click to expand...

Nadal has had runs of form where he's played more aggressively, it would be good to see him going for his shots and approaching the net perhaps in moments where he's not at his most confident. His athleticism isn't what it used to be so retrieving won't be a recipe for success over the next couple of years.

A little off topic but I always remember an interview with Eurosport, Wilander was interviewing Moya and Sampras - Moya spoke about what made Nadal and other Spanish players great on clay and Sampras spoke about how he would try to use the net to beat Nadal - Moya thought he was crazy :D
 
NatF said:
Nadal has had runs of form where he's played more aggressively, it would be good to see him going for his shots and approaching the net perhaps in moments where he's not at his most confident. His athleticism isn't what it used to be so retrieving won't be a recipe for success over the next couple of years.

A little off topic but I always remember an interview with Eurosport, Wilander was interviewing Moya and Sampras - Moya spoke about what made Nadal and other Spanish players great on clay and Sampras spoke about how he would try to use the net to beat Nadal - Moya thought he was crazy :D
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But that was Sampras' solution to every issue in his career. Serve harder and come to net more. It didn't work even against lesser players on clay so how he expects that to work against the best ever on the surface--not to mention the greatest passer ever to date--is beyond me.
 
Bender said:
But that was Sampras' solution to every issue in his career. Serve harder and come to net more. It didn't work even against lesser players on clay so how he expects that to work against the best ever on the surface--not to mention the greatest passer ever to date--is beyond me.
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Sampras liked to beat players at their own game at times, good example is that match against Corretja at the USO in 1996 where he wanted to win from the baseline. He only became pure S&V player from around 1999. Pete from 1993-1996 would have probably tried a bit more balance and a lot of play from the baseline - if they met a few times at the FO I would expect Sampras to throw caution to the wind and go full on net rush when he realised he wasn't hitting through Nadal.
 
Crisstti said:
I think it's great news.

A very logicall choice really. I mean, is anyone on his team NOT from Mallorca?. Probably the only ex player he'd consider adding.
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Francis Roig was born and lives in Barcelona.


Crisstti said:
...PS: Did you guys notice how Toni makes it seem like hiring Moyá was his idea?.
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I wonder why you think that it wasn't U.Toni's idea? U.Toni is the Head of Rafa's academy and he offered Moya a job at the academy after the latter got fired by Raonic. At the same time, Moya will be working with Rafa.
 
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NatF said:
Sampras liked to beat players at their own game at times, good example is that match against Corretja at the USO in 1996 where he wanted to win from the baseline. He only became pure S&V player from around 1999. Pete from 1993-1996 would have probably tried a bit more balance and a lot of play from the baseline - if they met a few times at the FO I would expect Sampras to throw caution to the wind and go full on net rush when he realised he wasn't hitting through Nadal.
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That doesn't speak well for this hypothetical matchup. On HC and grass, Sampras' net game would work very well but on clay, if his baseline game doesn't work, a net game wouldn't fare much better, to put it mildly. Even against half decent clay specialists on clay, playing at the net is risky business. Against arguably the greatest passer of all time on the slowest surface? Suicide, in my opinion.
 
Bender said:
That doesn't speak well for this hypothetical matchup. On HC and grass, Sampras' net game would work very well but on clay, if his baseline game doesn't work, a net game wouldn't fare much better, to put it mildly. Even against half decent clay specialists on clay, playing at the net is risky business. Against arguably the greatest passer of all time on the slowest surface? Suicide, in my opinion.
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Sampras would get destroyed don't get me wrong...on clay anyway.
 
NatF said:
Sampras would get destroyed don't get me wrong...on clay anyway.
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The reverse would equally be true on old grass but yes, on clay, what Sampras suggested was crazy talk and Moyà was right to think it was madness.
 
octobrina10 said:
Francis Roig was born and lives in Barcelona.
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Hardly much different, but OK. Guess that's as far as he's strayed.


I wonder why you think that it wasn't U.Toni's idea? U.Toni is the Head of Rafa's academy and he offered Moya a job at the academy after the latter got fired by Raonic. At the same time, Moya will be working with Rafa.
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Hey, maybe it was his idea. He dure makes it sound like it.
 
Bukmeikara said:
On that picture Nadal looks better than Moya IMO, the later has a very scary smile
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Nadal looks younger in that picture, that's what makes the difference. Moya is 40 years old and Nadal is only 30 so that's why he has a different glow/energy about him.
 
I'm a Rafa fan, but I don't think he can win another title that's not French Open. His style is way too taxing on him and it seems that a lot of his passion has gone. Before he used to be so energetic, regardless of what round he was playing, but now he's out of it you know?
 
it's nice to see carlos updating his coaching team by generously hiring some has-been player (at the hair-end of his career) as a sparring-partner (regardless of the controversies surrounding this new addition).
i guess a comeback on tour his imminent... great news :)
moya_fh.gif
 
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