Tennis insider reveals Rafael Nadal’s pre-match thoughts video games with Novak Djokovic

A former member of Novak Djokovic’s backroom group has addressed the techniques employed by Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal engaged in psychological warfare with Novak Djokovic throughout the peak of their rivalry, based on tennis legend Boris Becker. Nadal, Djokovic and Roger Federer shaped the game’s ‘huge three’ who dominated the lads’s recreation for 15 years and claimed 66 Grand Slam titles between them.

All three have acknowledged it was troublesome to be pals throughout their prolonged interval of dominance, though the mutual respect among the many trio was monumental. That did not stop them from making an attempt to get below one another’s pores and skin occasionally.

A peculiarity of tennis sees rival gamers put together for Grand Slam finals in the identical locker room, giving them a pre-match alternative to strike a psychological blow on their opponent. Ahead of some matches, Nadal tried such a tactic towards Djokovic, who was then coached by three-time Wimbledon champion Becker.

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He recounted the incident throughout his look on The Louis Theroux Podcast. On the tense environment that always prevailed, Becker mentioned: “Staring each other out. Looking at each other, who blinks first, who walks away, who takes more space in the locker room?

“You know, who places his entourage subsequent to him a bit of bit simply to unfold the muscle groups, as we are saying.” On Nadal’s psychological tactics, he revealed: “You know who was superb at that, at all times Nadal.

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“When I was coaching Djokovic, I mean, Nadal came with his entourage and he just blocked the whole corner just to say, ‘This is my locker room.'”

Theroux was astonished by the notion of two distinguished rivals sharing the identical area earlier than a match. Becker acknowledged it was a singular state of affairs in sport.

He mentioned: “In the locker room, you’re sitting next to your opponent, the guy you’re playing the Wimbledon final in a half an hour. I mean, no other sport has that.”

Theroux requested: “So you are in the locker room about to play the match of your life, let’s say, or certainly the final of Wimbledon and you’re both in the same locker room. Why do they do that?

Becker said: “Tradition. It’s been like this because the starting of tennis. You do gossip a bit of and small speak.”

He mentioned that gamers usually exchanged pleasantries, including: “You do not actually go into depth. You cannot additionally open up your self, as a result of then you already know he is bought a weak second, or he is battling the spouse, or he is battling this.

“So you don’t want to, you don’t want to share stories with your toughest opponents. Of course not.”