Nadal's former coach starts coaching another player 5 days after split
WTA
Rafael Nadal split from coach Francisco Roig a few days ago, and the coach has already found a new gig just five days after they split.
Roig worked with Nadal for most of his career, basically serving as an alternate coach to the Spaniard from 2005 to 2022. The split between them came recently, just a few days ago, when Nadal announced it.
Nadal's announcement was abrupt and came without any previous indications that the two might part way, even though it didn’t seem like there was a major fallout between them. The Spaniard thanked Roig in his statement and wished him good luck in his new project.
"Francis is a great coach who knows tennis very well and has helped me a lot to get better and better. I only have words of gratitude, and I wish him all the luck in the world in his new project."
The way Nadal phrased that thank-you note got many fans wondering what sort of project Roig had lined up, and the wait is now over. It’s now known what the new gig for Roig is, and it’s coaching former world number three Sloane Stephens.
Stephens has been up and down in recent years after peaking a couple of years ago by winning the US Open and making a good run at the French Open. Now, she’s hoping to rediscover her best tennis under Roig.
She even shared a photo on social media with the coach, confirming that he joined her team and that she’s very happy about it. At the end of the day, Roig has a very good reputation.
"Happy to have Francis Roig join my team as my new coach! Here's to a successful journey together, let's get to work."
Time will tell whether Roig was a good hire or whether Nadal was simply too good of a player to make anybody associated with him in any way look bad.
