“Would Not Even be a Tennis Player”: Rafael Nadal Reiterates Toni Nadal’s Impact in His Life

Rafael Nadal is loved and appreciated by a lot of people worldwide. He announced that he wouldn’t be participating in the upcoming US Open. He decided this due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

However, He will participate in the French Open in September. Fans are eager to see Nadal shinning on the clay court again. Throughout his career, he has won the most majors in Rolland Garros, including his first.

Rafael Nadal Talks About The Impact Of His Uncle

Recently, Nadal spoke to GQ about his career and records. The interviewer asked him who is the most important person in his career. Nadal revealed it is his uncle Toni Nadal.

“Toni, sportingly speaking, is the most important person in my life without any doubt, without Toni I would not even be a tennis player. It was he who decided I wanted to step aside and focus more on the Academy, or be more at home. I have never had a problem with that, with him everything has always been fine. I have always said that I am before a nephew, a relative, than his pupil He is much earlier my uncle than my coach.” claimed the World No. 2.

Toni Nadal is one of the greatest coaches of all time. He was Rafael Nadal’s coach from the beginning to 2016. He helped his nephew’s meteoric rise in the courts. Former World No. 1 and Roland Garros champion Carlos Moya took over Nadal as Nadal’s coach after him.

Under Toni’s training, Nadal won 14 Grand Slam titles, two Olympic medals, and finished as the year-end ATP World No. 1 three times.

READ MORE – “It’s the Same as Several Years Ago”: Rafael Nadal Claims Roger Federer Doesn’t Play Tennis For Records

Toni is the head of Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy in Mallorca, Spain. Rafael Nadal, believes nobody is better at his academy than his uncle due to his pivotal role in Rafa’s career.

Recently, Toni Nadal defended Rafael Nadal and Federer for withdrawing from the US Open. He wrote in his column,

“The decision of the tennis players to attend, or not, should be taken, I believe, from the indisputable personal opinion. The participation of Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas, or Daniil Medvedev seems to me as understandable as the resignation of Rafael, Roger Federer or Stan Wawrinka.”

Toni is also concerned about his nephew’s health as he stated, “The apprehension of having to take several planes and get away from home when things are still so uncertain must be understood,” Toni Nadal said. “I just hope that, in the case of my nephew, the inactivity of so many months does not affect his results at Roland Garros.“

(all quotes translated from Spanish)

Hopefully Rafael Nadal will win his 20th Grand Slam title, equalling the record for most titles by a male with Roger Federer.