"You play much faster than what you know Rafa and Novak did": Ruud recalls Toni Nadal's words on younger generation

The younger generation doesnt' play the same way Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal did as they play much faster according to Toni Nadal.

Toni Nadal has seen several generations of tennis players and recently Ruud revealed what the Spaniard told him. According to the coach, the younger generation plays a fair bit quicker than those players did. It's easy to tell as the young players play very aggressively looking to end rallies quickly as opposed to building points.

The Norwegian explained that he sees the new players coming up similarly:

"Yeah, I think so, I mean, they are playing at an incredible pace, you know, first of all they don't hold back pretty much any time there are a couple of slices here and there but from the forehead and the back and they have hit perfect shots. They can hit winners from anywhere, they can defend well, and they just even from defense, they just rip it back and forth."

He also shared the Toni Nadal anecdote:

"When I came to the academy in Mallorca and had my first practice with Tony, it was funny. I was playing with a junior player at the Academy just hitting from the baseline and he took up his phone and it started timing us to see in 30 seconds how many balls can I hit back and forth. And he said that you and the younger generation, you play much faster than what you know Rafa and Novak did when they were playing matches when they were younger."