Toni Nadal: “I’m glad that people have valued Rafael as a correct person” | ATP Tour

Nadal’s retirement

Toni Nadal: “I’m glad that people have valued Rafael as a correct person”

Toni reflects on the figure of her nephew

November 25, 2024

Protected by an eternal visor, observing from a distance, Toni Nadal is a key figure in understanding the current era of professional tennis. The Spaniard, uncle and coach for years of the former world No. 1 Rafael Nadal, played a fundamental role in building one of the most complete competitors in the history of the sport. With tenacity, common sense and perseverance as pillars, the current director of the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, speaks with ATPTour.com to reflect on his nephew’s professional retirement.

“A few months ago Rafael told me that he was planning to retire. I wanted to do it in Malaga during the Davis Cup. Obviously, it was a topic that was more or less assumed. We knew that sooner or later this decision had to come. “A few months ago I found out because Rafael came to tell me.”

The outcome of Nadal’s sports career has been one of the main news of the year in the world of sports, a reality that has had a social impact that is impossible to ignore. From the most passionate fans to his greatest rivals, such is the significance of the figure, they all agree on one conclusion: with Nadal’s retirement a stage of their lives ends.

How does Toni feel? What taste does a career that exceeded any expectations leave in your mouth?

“I don’t like the word proud very much,” says Toni, with humility in every word. “I feel very happy with everything he has achieved, on the track obviously for everything he has won. But, above all, what is most notable and what satisfies me as a family member is seeing how a boy who had the dream of becoming a great tennis player did everything possible without ever losing his way. Without ever stopping having your feet on the ground. Always maintaining competitiveness within the limits of correctness. That is obviously what has made me most happy. “I was happy to see how much people appreciated that.”

Weeks ago Carlos Moyà stated that Nadal could leave without any reproach, with the security of having given everything every day of his career. This permanent state of self-demand, from training routines to pure competition, is a reality with which Toni agrees. Having seen Rafa grow from his beginnings to becoming a figure admired by everyone.

“It would be better if he didn’t leave with his head held high,” acknowledges Toni, who was key with every piece of advice in the beginning and witnessed many of the efforts that built a film career. “After everything he has achieved, after having been there for many years, he has earned the respect of the vast majority of people. He has left a good taste in the mouth in all the tournaments in which he participated. I think he obviously leaves with his head held high.”

Nadal’s last months were a coexistence with an inevitable outcome, taking the final steps of a sporting career written in letters of gold. That path, after a collection of triumphs for the legend, a body pushed to the limit for years set the times on the track. A reality that Toni observed from a short distance.

“Of course I saw him suffer. But I got so used to seeing him suffer on many occasions throughout his tennis career,” he explains. “On many occasions he had complicated injuries, injuries that seemed like they were going to affect him and he even enjoyed being able to continue playing. Since I got so used to it, I wasn’t surprised to see him suffer a little at the end. The truth is that even seeing him suffer, I think Rafael cannot complain because life has treated him very well.”

Now, after two decades becoming a global sports icon, Nadal faces the transition away from the courts. Once the legend is written, the legacy begins to unfold. That journey without the routines of a lifetime opens a new chapter. And Toni trusts that his nephew will accept it like any other stage of his career: from an absolute naturalness.

“I think my nephew will face the day after with complete normality. He always knew that every sporting beginning has an end. There are no sports careers that last 100 years. Anyway, I think that in recent months he has been assimilating this process. Obviously retirement is a difficult time, but I think it won’t be very difficult for you to focus the rest of your life on other things. I think he’s probably going to dedicate himself with the same impetus with which he approached any tennis match.”

With the book already written, the pages to remember accumulate in the mind of a coach who has lived dream moments. Situations recorded in the retina of the fans that Toni has experienced firsthand. Among the collection of memories from the bench, there are details that will never be forgotten.

“I’m going to remember, obviously, the Wimbledon final [2008]the Roland Garros finals, the Monte Carlo tournaments. But, above all, I think I am going to remember the process that led Rafael to achieve these victories. I have told him many times: if you don’t like the process, you will hardly like the result. I always gave a lot of value to the process we lived through. Since I stopped training Rafael, I gradually remember different victories but also training sessions at the Manacor Tennis Club, when Rafael, as a child, tried to improve his forehand and backhand.”