Novak Djokovic recently made a bombshell announcement, naming Andy Murray as his new coach, starting from the 2025 Australian Open. Murray announced his retirement at the Paris Olympics this year, and then Nadal put an end to his career at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, in November. With Nadal also retiring, many fans have predicted a future coaching role for the Spaniard.

Speaking to Eurosport, former player Alex Corretja feels that it is ‘impossible’ to see Nadal as a coach in the future. “In my opinion, I see it as impossible. 99.99% impossible. Because in this life you can’t say impossible. But I would be very, very surprised. I think he’s going to need time to realize what he really wants to do. It’s a bit different than Andy. I feel like Andy, even if he’s got four kids and he’s busy at home, maybe he’s got less things to do on a daily basis,” he said.

“But Rafa, he is living on his, you know, in Manacor, and he’s got his academy. I don’t really see him moving so much from there. I felt like Andy wanted to maybe feel the experience of still traveling, you know. Rafa, I don’t really see him as a coach or as a consultant for anyone. I might see him more like a consultant for, let’s say, Real Madrid. Something big, something that he could add to the team from time to time, can give them some speeches. I would see it for a short period of time. Three months or six months. But on a daily basis, I don’t really see it.”

Even in 2023, Nadal was asked if he would take up coaching after his retirement. Speaking to Diario AS, he said, “They ask me things about the future that I cannot answer, nor say one thing or another. Because the future is often uncertain and I also don’t lose sight of the fact that I have an academy where players come and I like sports in general. I like tennis, so I can’t say that I’m not going to drink that water, that I’m not going to be a coach. I don’t see myself doing a complete calendar on the Tour, it’s practically impossible. Now, in a few weeks, being able to help someone or being able to spend some time with a player, well, why not tomorrow. Not today, but tomorrow who knows.”