"The moment he jumped, he destroyed the field": Rafael Nadal's junior days fondly remembered by ex-coach of Coco Gauff, Pere Riba

American tennis star Coco Gauff’s ex-coach Pere Riba opened up about how Spain’s Rafael Nadal used to dominate in the juniors category in the early days of his playing career.

The 37-year-old is often regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of tennis in the men’s singles category in the Open era, having won 22 Grand Slam titles. Riba, who recently split up with Gauff, opened up about how Nadal used to dominate in the junior category.

"It's funny because, you know, he was 14 years old and then he's, you know, he won the tournament and then when some people they were asking him if he was gonna start to play the Masters," he said.

"And he was saying, 'Well, you, know 'I'm young', I'm going step by step.' He was so humble. I remember the moment that he jumped to these [higher level] tournaments, he destroyed the field and passed so far.”

Nadal has not played any professional tennis for more than 10 months as he continued his recovery from a knee injury sustained earlier this year. It was because of this reason the former world number one ended up missing three out of the four Grand Slams in 2023.