Novak Djokovic's former fitness trainer, Marco Panichi, thinks that current Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic combined would be a super champion that would beat other players easily.
In a very interesting thought exercise, Djokovic's former trainer, Marco Panichi, who started working with the current World No. 1 on the ATP Tour, Jannik Sinner, recently combined what he saw from Djokovic and Nadal recently to form a new super champion, who would be the best player in the world.
Much has been said about the current form of both. On one side, there is Nadal, who hasn't played much tennis lately due to various physical issues that have plagued him over the year.
Even now, he's away from the sport as he's not ready to compete, but apparently, he's practicing regularly. On the other hand, Djokovic has been on the courts recently.
He looked really solid at the Davis Cup, even though his most recent performance before that at the US Open wasn't very good. The Paris Olympics was the closest he came to his peak again, so clearly he's still capable of that level, even though it's a mystery for how long.
According to Panichi, they’re both still really good. To demonstrate that, he told Tennis Italiano that combining their 2024 version into one player would still result in a super champion better than the rest of the Tour.
"Rafael Nadal has a physical problem, he can't train consistently. He's a machine that has travelled many kilometres. Novak Djokovic is healthy, but his motivation is low. If we could unite them, we would still have a super champion."
They’re still both great players on their own. However, as Panichi pointed out, both have different issues. While Nadal's motivation is sky-high, his body can't sustain playing. On the other hand, Djokovic's motivation might not be the highest, but his body is still in nearly perfect shape.
Panichi knows Djokovic very well, and he shared how the Serbian operates in his career. He always desires to stay one step ahead of his competition, which he's been able to do for much of his career. The results and achievements speak for themselves.
"In every detail [Novak Djokovic] wants to constantly stay one step ahead of the others. In the type of preparation, in the search for machines and techniques that can allow him to prepare and recover faster, in the care of nutrition."
"Off the court he is a wonderful, intelligent, funny guy. On the court the Slavic warrior in him comes out, and he needs it to "feed". If that aspect is missing, he gets a little lost."
Sinner will greatly benefit from Panichi's experience in dealing with one of the best of all time, and maybe some of the things the Italian coach did with the Serbian legend could be implemented in the way Sinner does things as well.
It's clear that the 23-year-old aims for the same heights as Djokovic did, and as somebody who helped Djokovic achieve that, Panichi will be a great addition to the Italian's team.