Rafael Nadal will emerge again in 2017. That is what Toni Nadal, the uncle and head coach of 14-time Grand Slam winner, firmly believes as the ATP season turns to a new calendar.
Toni, the man who convinced a young Rafael to forego his pro soccer aspiration and take on a different path as a professional tennis player, has no doubt his nephew will become a force to be reckoned with in the ATP circuit next season after a relatively disappointing campaign this year.
"We will see the best Rafael Nadal next year, it will be a great season," Toni Nadal told reporters via Tennis World. "I think at Roland Garros we will be among the favourites with Djokovic. There are Murray and others as well, but I am confident that the tenth Roland Garros title can come.
Rafael also expressed utter confidence that he can make his way back on top of the ATP world rankings as long as he continues to believe in his game.
"I would not focus on this record, I am not necessarily interested in beating it. I have the enough passion for tennis in order to be No 1," Nadal told Spanish XL Semanal magazine (H/T Tennis World).
"I don't worry about how I am going to win the French Open next year. I think more in the short term: about my training tomorrow, what I want to achieve there. It is important to recognize the small successes. It is the small steps which bring you satisfaction at the end of the day."
It has been a rough 2016 campaign for the former world's no.1 and 9-time French Open champion. Not only that he failed to win a Grand Slam title this year, he was also unable to secure a slot in the ATP World Tour finals.
The 30-year old captured the Monte Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open this year, but dropped to no.9 in the world at the end of the year.
