Rafael Nadal’s uncle reveals favourite memory of coaching his nephew and makes confession about his game
Toni Nadal has shared his favourite memory from his time coaching his nephew Rafael Nadal and joked about the one area of the tennis legend’s game they could “never get right.”
The 64-year-old played an integral role in Rafael Nadal‘s life and career, having coached his nephew from the age of four until the end of the 2017 season, when Nadal was 31.
The Mallorcan coach helped Nadal win 75 of his 92 ATP singles titles and 16 of his 22 Grand Slams during their partnership.
Toni Nadal now serves as a coach and ambassador for the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor, having been the director between 2016 and 2023.
In an interview with Tennis Channel Spain, Toni Nadal revealed that the early days of him coaching his nephew brought him the greatest joy.
“Well, I’ve said it many times, I had much more fun coaching my nephew when he was little than when he was older,” Nadal explained.
“All my life, I’ve enjoyed training much more because I think it’s a more decisive stage.
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“Many have asked me about the best moment I lived with Rafael. I was lucky to live through some incredible moments, but none were as good as those early days at the Manacor Tennis Club, trying to improve our drive (forehand), our backhand, or our serve.
“We never could get the serve right though (laughs).”
Nadal added: “Nowadays it’s very difficult to work with young people who have an environment that sometimes makes them believe that they are better than they really are.”
Last year, Nadal shed light on the brutal toll professional tennis took on his nephew’s body.
“Rafael got used to playing with pain, but I told his father that if we had retired every time he had problems, he could have already lost five or six Grand Slam titles,” he told Marca.
“Since 2005, I would say that Rafa could not complete 90% of his training sessions because of injuries. [He was] unable to play a Grand Slam match without taking painkillers.
“The problem he had was that he got used to playing with pain and saw how most of the time he came out stronger. He thought that this time it would be the same and what happens is that, now after the knee, it came to the hip…”
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