Former world's no.1 Rafael Nadal hasn't been in action since appendicitis shut down his 2014 season for good. But even he's out of the tennis court, controversy continues to haunt the Spaniard and his camp, and this it involves about the state of his relationship with one of the closest confidante in his team.
Toni Nadal, the uncle and head coach of Rafael ever since he began his tennis career, dropped a serious bomb in a recent interview, particularly on Nadal and his place in tennis history.
While many analysts are already tapping the 28-year old Nadal as one of the best tennis player of all time, if not the greatest of them all, his uncle didn't agree at all, as he believes his nephew hasn't done enough to beat Roger Federer for the title.
Moreover, Toni Nadal thinks Novak Djokovic is slightly better than his nephew because of the Serb's tremendous skills=set that he thinks could rival even Federer's complete game.
"With all the titles he has won, there is no doubt that Federer is the greatest," Toni Nadal told reporters via Tennis Tonic. "Rafael has won more titles than Novak Djokovic, but speaking merely about tennis and about the game, Rafa has to be considered slightly lower than Djokovic. The Serb is such a good player that he is as close as you can get to Roger Federer."
The remarks made by Rafael's uncle seem to be unusual for a guy who is notoriously known as the most vocal supporter of the Spaniard. Toni Nadal has been a stern defender of his nephew through the years, and his comments certainly triggered speculations that things aren't going well within the camp of the 14-time Grand Slam champion.
Nadal's 2014 season wasn't as pretty as his remarkable campaign in the previous year, when he racked up 10 ATP titles after a seven-month hiatus to recover from a knee injury.
Nevertheless, the Spaniard managed to defend the French Open title and increase his Grand Slam tally to 14, drawing him three Slams closer towards tying Federer's record.
Whether there's really turmoil inside Nadal's quarters, the Spaniard is still expected to be one of the favorites for next month's Australian Open championship. Nadal finished runner-up to Stanislas Wawrinka last January despite dealing myriad of injuries such as blisters and back spasms.
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