'If you are lucky enough to train with Rafael Nadal...', says top coach

The quarantine for the Australian Open has officially begun, and the Happy Slam has decided to show the landing of the most prominent players with a video posted on Twitter shortly after 8 this morning: As you can see, the tennis players filmed are for the most part those who will constitute the Adelaide bubble (their arrival in this city was also confirmed by a video of the local station 9News Adelaide): you can see, among others, Novak Djokovic (and Ivanisevic), Serena Williams (with daughter Olympia), Naomi Osaka, Rafael Nadal, Simona Halep and Dominic Thiem. The arrivals have followed one another since yesterday (the video shows landings at different times of the day) on charters with capacity reduced to 20 percent, according to Sergiy Stakhovsky. Many players, players and their staff members have publicly thanked Tennis Australia and Craig Tiley for the remarkable organizational machinery they have set up; among them is Riccardo Piatti, who confirmed the arrival of Jannik Sinner in Adelaide, where he will be Rafa Nadal's training partner. In a recent interview, Jose Vendrell spoke about the training sessions between his ward Roberto Bautista Agut and Rafael Nadal. Vendrell revealed that the 13-time French Open champion is just as hard-working and intense during his practice sessions as he is during his matches.

Vendrell praises Rafael Nadal

"The experience has been very good, both Rafael Nadal's team have treated us wonderfully," Jose Vendrell said. "It is a place where you can breathe tennis, ideal to prepare. It is a reference center. (We are) Also, if you are lucky enough to train with Rafael Nadal like we have, delighted. It has been very good for us for Roberto to refine a little that point of quality that is not easy to achieve in such long preseason." Vendrell believes that training with Bautista Agut would have also been beneficial for Rafael Nadal, especially since Bautista Agust is equally intense and serious about his practice sessions. "I don't think there is much difference between how they train and how they compete, bridging the gap because competing always creates more stress," Vendrell added. "But at the level of intensity and seriousness, the two get very involved. For both of them it has been positive because having a player of Roberto's quality and intensity will also have added to him (Rafael Nadal) and will have focused him a little more even if possible for the beginning of the year."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/35L8P9P