New coach, bad results, a full Djokovic and a warning: "Nadal is now in Grand Slam mode"

It will be in the early hours of this Monday, around 4:30 am in Spain (Eurosport), when the champion begins the defense of the title.

He will do it against

, 40th, a 21-year-old British left-hander, "one of the toughest starts he could have", according to

comments to this newspaper in a telephone conversation from Melbourne.

Rafael Nadal returns to the central Rod Laver Arena, the same place where a little less than a year ago he left his mark with one of the victories that only seem to be within his reach.

He came back from two losing sets and 2-3 at 0-40 against him to beat

.

It was the first time he had lifted two sets in a Grand Slam final.

“They are impressive, unforgettable memories.

Due to the situation in which he came, very few trusted something similar.

Not even among ourselves, among his own team, we could believe it, although as the tournament progressed it gave the impression that something could happen », recalls Moyà.

Nadal came almost out of nowhere.

With a victory at the ATP 250 in Melbourne, yes, but after five months absent from the slopes due to Muller Weiss syndrome, that chronic foot injury that he now has under control, and having passed the covid.

Circumstances did not exist to imagine that it would be there, at the Australian Open, where he had only won the title once, in 2009, where he would get the twenty-first major and break away from

and

, with whom he equaled 20 .

Losing streak

A year later, the background, without generating the uncertainty of the long absence, does not invite optimism either, no matter how much the Spaniard, before the loss of the injured

, starts as the first seed.

Nadal has only won one of his last seven matches.

He beat

in the group stage of the ATP Finals, a victory that did not allow him to undo the damage suffered in the same tournament against

and

.

Before Turin he had lost against

, in the round of 16 of the US Open, and against

, in his debut at Paris-Bercy.

In 2023 he comes from two defeats in the United Cup, against

and against

.

Nadal and Djokovic trajectory

«When he arrives at a tournament of this category, what happened before has little influence.

The members of his team, who see him every day, know that these losses are normal, that they may even have helped him.

We know that he is now in a different scenario and that he enters Grand Slam mode », analyzes Moyà.

His main adversary, without ignoring the numerous obstacles that can be found in a box littered with mines, with Tiafoe in the hypothetical round of 16, Medvedev in the quarterfinals and

in the semifinals, will be who he has been in the course of a long rivalry.

Djokovic returns to Melbourne after the scandalous and futile visit in 2022, this time able to seek his tenth title in this tournament, with which he would hunt down Nadal in the race to finish with more

.

brilliant track record

The Serbian, recent champion in the ATP250 in Adelaide, presents a reverse trajectory to that of Nadal.

Since he won the seventh Wimbledon, he has 23 victories in 24 matches, with the Paris-Bercy final against

as the only setback.

«If you see the story, this is Djokovic's house, but then you have to play.

Nothing can be taken for granted”, says Moyà, who this season has a new member on the technical team, the Argentine

, from the Nadal academy and taking over from Francis Roig.

"It's a great addition.

It is important to renew the teams, introduce new blood that helps to receive the message with different words.

He comes from outside, but he knows you.

He can see things that the rest of us miss.

According to a study by Puntodebreak.com, the effectiveness of Nadal's service has progressively decreased since the abdominal injury suffered in the Wimbledon quarterfinals against Fritz.

If in Melbourne, a year ago, he won 78.5% of the points with the first and 56.8% with the second, in the recent United Cup the figures dropped to 66.7% and 48.4 %.

Nadal arches his back less to avoid damage to the abdominal area.

Good physical condition

"Let's say that the service has always been his least natural shot and the one most subject to modifications," explains Moyà.

«There is a before and after the injury suffered at Wimbledon.

In the ATPFinals he began to serve without discomfort and the best thing was his service.

Now we have returned to what was originally taken from him.

We trust that throughout the tournament he will pick up speed, especially with the second ».

The best news for the Spaniard is his good physical condition.

«It is the first time in quite some time that, to this day [for last Friday], we are calm.

The last week we have been able to train very well, doing many things that could not be done before.

With the foot injury, sometimes we were only on the track for 20 or 30 minutes.

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• tennis

• Rafael Nadal

• Novak Djokovic

• Carlos Alcaraz