Rafael Nadal’s uncle and long-time coach, Toni, says the world No. 1 will eventually catch Roger Federer as the Grand Slam title leader with 19. The gap is three–exactly what it was when this season began, although each player unexpectedly added two to his respective total.
“We will get to Federer’s 19, yes,” Toni said. “I think it will happen. It’s difficult, but there is some more Roland Garros and I am confident other titles will come. When he was 12, 13 or 14, you never think he will get to this level. I am very happy to see my nephew lift so many trophies, knowing that he has achieved another piece of history.”
Nadal added to his total by recently capturing his third U.S. Open title. That came three months after he triumphed at Roland Garros for the 10th time in his career.
“He has won a hard-court tournament for the first time since 2014,” Toni noted. “We are very happy that he has won another Grand Slam, his 16th, and is in a position to fight for No. 1. It was unimaginable that would happen, of course. But I had faith that Rafael would win one more Grand Slam, I tell you truthfully.”
Federer had been stuck on 17 and thought by many to remain there until his retirement. But the two all-time greats tag-teamed to monopolize the major trophies in 2017. Federer prevailed at the Australian Open (his fifth there) and Wimbledon (his eighth).
The scored could be 18-17 right now, but Federer recovered from a break down in the fifth set to topple Nadal in a memorable Aussie Open final.
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So who is being tipped early to win ao 18 ? Thoughts ?
I think it’s just way too early for anyone to realistically realistically tip anyone for AO 2018 yet, as there are too many “ifs” at play. One obvious if is whether the trio of Novak, Andy, and and/or Stan will be able to play lights out in their first big tourny back, like how Fedal did this year. If those three are not able to bounce back immediately, then it would be hard for me to pick anyone aside from Fedal to win it. Then, another “if” is whether or not Federer is healthy or not. And the third factor would be if AO keeps the court really fast again, or if they revert back to the speed it was pre-2017. The faster the court, the more it would suit Fed’s game, and if it’s slow like US Open was this year then that would certainly favor Rafa more than if it were fast. However, if Fed is still suffering back issues, then Rafa would have to be the clear favorite, imo. Since it’s just way too early to make any assumptions about February 2018, I think that the most we can truly say is that Fedal have to be the clear-cut faves going in. That being said, we just have absolutely not idea where anyone will be at in 5 months from now, so I would have to view any specific winner prediction that anyone makes as strictly wishful thinking and/or pure speculation… We will have a much better idea of who should be favored for AO by the end of this season. We will have a better idea of the health of players. We will see if there are any younger players who are continuing to rise. We may have updates about the statuses of the injured players. And, perhaps most importantly, we will have a better idea of where Fedal are at in their respective games at season-end. Or in the case of Fed, we will also have a better idea of the status of his back. Not to mention we may have an updated view of their rivalry with EACH OTHER on hardcourts. It would certainly be extremely helpful to both of them if they were able to get another win over the other leading into the start of 2018. So I don’t see how any of us can make a truly informed prediction when there’s 5 months and lots of tennis to still be played before AO, and numerous important factors are as-of-yet unknown.
I suppose that someone could say that they think Rafa will definitely win it no matter who’s healthy or playing well, or that Fed will definitely win it if he’s healthy no matter who’s healthy or playing well, or that Novak will immediately re-appear as 2015 Novak and win AO, but that would be largely wishful thinking at this point. Obviously any of those three guys, or Andy, or Stan, could win it, but I can’t see how anyone could make one of those predictions this far in advance…
Judging by his performances this weekend, Cilic appears to be back in good health. So if he is able to stay healthy, he could be in the mix for the rest of this season as well as at AO 2018.
He could ‘mix’ things up in London…
I wouldn’t discount Nole and Andy as they will certainly come back motivated and strong! What makes you think that either one would have a slow start at AO? Nole adores AO and it being faster than before won’t make a difference for Novak. I remember reading his reasoning behind his rest of the year time off: it wasn’t really the injury, it was the need to spend some quality time with his family, have some well deserved rest and preparing for the strong come back in January 18! So definitely Novak will do his all to be back to his old self which means trouble for both Fed and Rafa!
I wouldn’t go that far to predict how many more slams Rafa could win! It’s perfectly reasonable for Toni to do it in order to motivate and support his nephew! For a fan it’s hard to predict given Rafa’s oscillations in form and all he has been through with injuries. I could see him winning more FOs if he is motivated. His best chance is one more AO as well, depending on how strong the field will be. For some reason I fear if Rafa goes on to win WTF this year he may be exhausted physically and emotionally to make a big winning run at the AO. And if I am asked for the preference I am not sure…either one would work for me ? All I know is that Basel, Beijing and Shanghai are irrelevant to me as Rafa fan, and as far as I am concerned should only serve as training field for Rafa..,don’t care if he loses early…WTF and AO is all that matters!
Vamos Rafa!
Toni won’t say things for the sake of saying! I believe he really thinks Rafa can do it; Rafa doesn’t need any more motivation from Toni!
Djoko didn’t take time off just to rest, he needed time to let his elbow heal, I thought that’s obvious? He certainly didn’t retire against Berdych at Wimbledon just because he wanted some time off to rest? It’s more for healing I believe.
The difference in Djoko’s comeback in 2018 vs Fedal’s in 2017, imo, is that Djoko will have to face Fedal playing at their good to great level and that makes things tough for Djoko; whilst Fedal in their 2017 comeback had an off form Djoko and Murray to deal with, and Fedal only needed to face Djoko/Murray only once in 2017 ( Rafa vs Djoko at Madrid)!
I really believe Fedal will make things difficult for Djoko next year, given the way they’re playing this season and Rafa especially is looking fit and healthy.
Uncle Stanley says R. Federer will win 29 majors before he retires and no one will catch him.
Uncle Stanley won’t say things for the sake of saying, i believe he thinks Roger Federer can do it.
Roger doesn’t need extra motivation because R. Federer is the best.
C’mon guys…. We all know that Evgeny Donskoy and Michael Berrer are the real GOATS! 🙂
Kevin how are you doing?
I’m ok, Stanley, thanks for asking. And you?
Cool!
I Only wish the AO was now lol 😉
We will get there OK!