Rafael Nadal’s uncle and long-time coach Toni has said that Roger Federer’s playing style against the Spaniard is much better than it used to be.
In an interview with Blick, Toni said that he wasn’t a fan of Federer’s strategy against Nadal earlier and that it has all changed since 2017.
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“Federer has found a very effective system against Rafael since 2017,” Toni was quoted as saying. “He used to block the serve many times, now he strikes back with speed. He also hits the backhand much faster, plays with a lot of anticipation. It works.
“He used to let Rafael play and that should be avoided. Back then, I always said that Federer was wrong about his style of play and that he had to be much more aggressive on return and play at a much faster pace.”
Federer and Nadal have faced each other 40 times with the latter having a 24-16 lead in their head-to-head. The Swiss, however, has emerged victorious in seven out of their last eight meetings.
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Toni also shared his admiration for Federer’s ability on a tennis court. The 59-year-old said that the 20-time Grand Slam champion’s game has evolved effectively with age.
“His aesthetics are great and his technique is almost perfect,” said Toni. “He is fortunate to be able to do everything very well from scratch. In the past, I preferred to watch him even more than I do today. Like Rafael, who has improved a lot on serve, Roger switched his game to do more and run less.
“Doing things like Roger Federer is very difficult. You have to accept this painful reality relentlessly. Before one of Rafael’s first matches against Federer, I told my nephew what Roger can do better. Rafa reacted a little sourly.”