Uncle Toni has added his thoughts to the continuing debate about the blue clay of Madrid.
“The fact that the ATP gave permission for this tournament is an outrage,”
“One of the highlights of Rafa’s year is playing in Madrid and what has happened is that this event puts the Spanish players, who are more (traditional) clay players, at a disadvantage,” he added.
“So you say ‘I want to play in Madrid but not at the cost of my health nor at the cost of losing my feeling on the court’.”
Toni disclosed that after Rafa had first trained on the blue clay he advised him to pull out.
“If he had listened to me he wouldn’t have played this year,”
Tiriac & the ATP were the main targets with Toni adding:
“How much power must this guy have if they let him change the customs and habits of the players,”
“But the main culprit is the ATP,” “He can do what he wants at his own tournament, but the ATP should not have given him permission and I expect them to withhold it next year.”
The ATP have said that final decision regarding the colour of the clay for 2013 will be taken once all feedback from a variety of sources has been taken into consideration.
The other day we reported that Rafael Nadal will be out for 6 weeks with a hairline fracture. However, it now turns out that reports were incorrect and that Rafa will be playing in the Montreal tournament in little over a month.
Nadal News posted this translation of an article from as.com, wherein Uncle Toni refutes the story:
Toni Nadal, uncle and coach Rafa Nadal, said the Spaniard tennis player does not suffer any fracture in his left foot, against which publishes the British newspaper The Times. Nadal will be in the tournament in Montreal, as planned, that is played in just over a month.
Rafael Nadal has been fined $2,000 by Wimbledon officials for receiving coaching during his third-round match. The match was against Philipp Petzschner in which Nadal was down 2 sets to 1. Typical!
Nadal was given a code violation by French umpire Cedric Mourier for allegedly receiving advice from his coach, uncle Toni Nadal, during his five-set win over Philipp Petzschener on Saturday.
Both Nadals said Toni had only been giving the player encouragement. The fine was announced Monday. Nadal said, “The rules are the rules.”
Toni Nadal who is the coach of the 4 time French Open champion Rafael Nadal said some quite rude remarks about the French crowd on Spanish radion Station Cadena Ser.
Toni was none too pleased to hear how little the Parisian crowd was supporting the 4-time defending champion:
In an interview with the Spanish radio station Cadena Ser, Toni Nadal said there was some truth to the phrase: “There is only one set of supporters that is worse than the French and that is the Parisians.”
“They say it themselves and it’s true, the Parisian crowd is pretty stupid. I think the French don’t like it when a Spaniard wins,” he added. “Wanting someone to lose is a slightly conceited way of amusing yourself. They show the stupidity of people who think themselves superior.R”
Rafael had made mention of the crowd’s waning support in his post-match presser after the loss saying,
Maybe at one stage they supported Soderling more than me, and that was a bit sad. But I wish when I’m back they can support me a bit more in key moments.
I know it is great to see the underdog do well, but we are still talking about 4-time defending champion who was little put back by the lack of support. Although I can see why the French crowd might have supported Soderling, because it was a turn point in French Open history and its great to see something like this happen.
