Rafael Nadal reveals he visited a psychiatrist and received treatment during career low point
Rafael Nadal has revealed that he went to see a psychiatrist during the 2015 season after a string of poor results, before later being given medication.
The Spaniard recently made the honest admission during an early premiere of his Netflix four-part docuseries, ‘Rafa’, focusing on both his life and career, which is set to be released on May 29th.
After 23 years on tour as a professional tennis player, Nadal hung up his racket in November 2024 at the Davis Cup Finals.
However, while his career was exceptionally long and successful, he experienced a string of early losses in 2015 despite being free of any physical injuries.
The former world No 1 suffered his first French Open defeat since 2009 and was knocked out of both Wimbledon and the US Open before the fourth round.
His biggest title that year was an ATP 500 victory in Hamburg, an event he would usually skip during more successful seasons.
As a result, he visited a psychiatrist for help.
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“I don’t think it’s true that a psychiatrist recommended it to me,” he stated during an interview with MARCA.
“I think the reality is that in 2015 I had an episode that lasted a year. It was difficult to control what I had been controlling all my life.
“In the end, I always understood that I had to sort out certain issues on my own.
“So at that moment I understood that I could sort out on my own what was happening to me on the court.
“Because I never considered the things that happen to you on a tennis court important enough to resort to certain things.
“But at a given moment, one thing is that I might not control my emotions or the situation on the tennis court, and another is that when I’m off it, I have to go out for a walk with a bottle of water because otherwise, I choke on my own saliva.
“So I said, well, I have a problem, I have to go to professionals. I visited a psychologist and she brought up things that I already knew. It was totally rational.
“Then I thought, how can that happen to me? But it did happen to me, it’s a reality. I needed a different kind of help. So I went to a psychiatrist. They gave me medication that allowed me to improve over the months.
“And that’s how it was. I think Carlos Moyá’s story is a bit different. At a certain point, it was decided that I needed an extra boost within the team.
“It was never done with the intention that Toni would not continue on the team.
“But after a while, Toni decided to step aside.”
Indeed, as Nadal notes, after continuing to struggle well into the 2016 season, he opted to hire long-time friend and former French Open champion Carlos Moyá.
Having had only one coach – his uncle Toni – for his entire life, a change was sought to bring new energy into the team and revive Nadal’s career.
However, Toni opted to step back from the team at the end of the 2017 season and instead focus his energy on coaching at his nephew’s academy in Mallorca.
Nadal and the rest of his family were not directly informed of the decision, instead hearing about it through the media.
“Yes, it’s incredible [that we weren’t informed],” the 22-time Grand Slam champion added.
“It wasn’t pleasant at the time. But that’s how it is. He didn’t change his mind.
“I had a conversation with him afterwards and, evidently, everything turned out as usual.
“In the end, there are too many connections, too many important things that we have experienced together.
“He is my uncle and I love him. First because of that, and then because of everything else and everything I achieved thanks to him.”
The addition of Moyá proved highly effective, with Nadal winning two Grand Slams and finishing the season as world No 1 in their first year working together.
The two would continue together for another seven years, until the Spaniard’s retirement.
