What Happened Between Felix Auger-Aliassime and Rafael Nadal’s Uncle Toni Nadal? Understanding This Weird Coach-Player Journey

The French Open 2022 drew a lot of attention for all the wrong reasons. Rafael Nadal and Felix Auger-Aliassime were due to clash in the fourth round of the tournament. However, Toni Nadal, the uncle of Rafael Nadal and the then coach of Aliassime, made a shocking revelation before the match. Despite coaching the Canadian star, Toni Nadal wanted his nephew to win. This put a significant effect on the player-coach relationship and, recently, Aliassime announced the inevitable.

Aliassime is in Madrid where he’s playing in the Madrid Open. After entering the finals of the tournament, Aliassime announced a split with his coach, Toni Nadal and revealed the actual reason behind it.

Announcing the departure of Nadal as his coach, the Canadian star said, “My coach, Frédéric Fontang, has been here since the start of the tournament, and with him my physiotherapist and a dear friend of mine, while Toni is at home. We are still in contact with Toni, but he is currently no longer an active part of my team.”

Further, he went on to add, “But he’s always been a good voice, a good way to add someone from the outside who has experience and can give me useful advice on my game.”

Ever since the French Open controversy went viral, Toni Nadal has been receiving a lot of criticism from Aliassime’s fans. Even after the split news was announced, the fans brutally slammed Nadal’s uncle. Nonetheless, Aliassime has found a familiar face who is supporting him in Toni Nadal’s absence.

Aliassime’s father traveling with his son

The past few months have been tough for the 23-year-old. He has had an inconsistent run across the tournaments earlier this year. However, the Madrid Open final appearance comes as a major boost to him. Aliassime has to thank his father for this, who is supporting his son en route to his fantastic run.

Announcing his father’s addition to his team, Aliassime said that he was regularly traveling with him during the tournaments, which is making him happy. Further, he has helped Aliassime a lot on the court and will also be with him at the French Open.

The Canadian sensation will face Andrey Rublev in the Madrid Open final tomorrow after getting a walkover against Jiri Lehecka in the semifinals after the latter’s injury. Can Aliassime raise his game against Rublev and win the title in Madrid? Let us know your views in the comments below.