“Rafael has fulfilled the promise he made to me” – Uncle Toni celebrates Nadal’s career
Rafael Nadal is set to call it a day in November 2024
Tennis Mag / Panoramic
It is said that a father protects, disciplines, and provides for his child, however, in 22-time Grand Slam-winning tennis stalwart Rafael Nadal‘s case, his uncle Toni, by and large, fulfilled those responsibilities.
Nadal began swinging the racquet at only three years old under Toni’s tutelage. Their partnership later re-wrote the tennis history books. Toni helped his nephew to 16 Grand Slam glories, two Olympic gold medals, and 141 weeks out of the total 209 as the world No 1.
With Nadal declaring the 2024 Davis Cup Final 8 as his farewell tournament in November, Toni can’t help but reminisce about the road they travelled together for three decades. He celebrates the 38-year-old’s illustrious professional career, which began in 2001, with a lengthy tribute on El Pais.
“For months, he delayed this decision, even though he knew it had to be made sooner rather than later,” Toni wrote. “It wasn’t easy for him to close such a significant chapter of his life and step away from something he had done successfully since childhood, for as long as he could remember.
“What it has meant to me, from the early days of his tennis journey — when I watched him, racket in hand, pacing restlessly around the Manacor Tennis Club, eager for his turn to train with me — until his final strokes on the court, when I watched with concern as neither his shots nor his legs responded with the same freshness and strength as before, is beyond what words can express.”
“Realization of an almost perfect dream”
Before making his senior debut, Nadal created waves at the juniors, accumulating numerous accolades, including the Spanish Championships in 1997 and 1998.
Later, within the first four years of his professional career, he announced his arrival on the big stage by claiming the 2005 French Open, a tournament where he would triumph a record 13 more times — 2006-08, 2010-14, 2017-2020, and 2022.
He opened his Wimbledon account in 2008 by dethroning five-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in the final. He wore the crown in London two years later again. The Australian Open saw him become champion for the first time in 2009 and the second time in 2022. He completed the career Grand Slam by taking home the US Open silverware in 2010, later replicating the exploits in 2013, 2017, and 2019.
In the meantime, Nadal also brought laurels to Spain, winning the Beijing Olympics (2008) in singles, the Rio Olympics (2016) in doubles, and the Davis Cup five times (2004, 2008-09, 2011, and 2019).
Toni couldn’t have asked for more as he continued in his essay:
“Everything that has transpired between those distant years and this final chapter, from his first victories in youth tournaments that hinted at what was to come, to his last great triumphs in Melbourne and Paris, feels like the realization of an almost perfect dream.
“Those were intense years in which I had the privilege of experiencing incredible moments alongside him: his first Davis Cup final in Seville as an unexpected debutant, his first French Open title in 2005, and his victory at Wimbledon in 2008, in a legendary final against Roger Federer, widely regarded as the best in history.”
“Rafael learned to live with pain for many years”
Nadal’s ride to success was bumpy. The jubilation of achievements brought with them the pain of injuries.
The 38-year-old’s left foot, which powered his sizzling forehands, plagued him throughout his career. In 2005, he was diagnosed with Mueller-Weiss syndrome, a congenital condition that triggers degenerative arthritis marked with a deformed navicular bone.
Nadal also endured pain in his strong shoulder and knees. Damage to his hip flexor at the 2023 Australian Open apparently acted as the final nail in the coffin as the veteran missed the remaining season, meanwhile undergoing an arthroscopic surgery.
“But there were also challenging moments,” Toni recalled. “Such as the diagnosis of his congenital injury in 2005 — a sword of Damocles that forced him to live with pain and uncertainty. For us, it would have been ungrateful to give in to either. In difficult times, I often repeated a phrase I’ve mentioned here before: “Rafael, life has treated us better than we expected and far better than we deserved.
“Rafael learned to live with pain for many years, mastering it on numerous occasions and, saw how despite his doubts and uncertainties, he often emerged not only victorious but stronger. This was one of the reasons he repeatedly postponed his carefully considered decision.
“In the last two years, he has simply continued his usual pattern of giving himself every possible chance — driven more by faith than logic. Ultimately, he has only agreed to accept the undeniable reality when it became clear that his body could no longer give any more.”
At last, Toni is pleased with what his nephew Nadal produced on the tennis court as the former remembered advising the athlete not to quit the racquet sport without fighting till the last ounce of energy.
Today, I can say with certainty that Rafael has fulfilled the promise he made to me a few years ago during a conversation at a club.
Toni Nadal
“I told him that a well-known former tennis player had once confided in me his dissatisfaction with his career — not because he hadn’t won more titles, but because of his lack of perseverance. Concerned, I urged my nephew not to make the same mistake. With more determination than I expected, Rafael responded, “Relax, Toni. When I go, it will be with the peace of mind that I gave it everything.”
Nadal and Toni parted ways in February 2017 professionally but the experienced coach remains a constant in the fellow Spaniard’s life, now overlooking the affairs of the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca.
“Starting in November, the trophies that rest in the showcases of his Academy’s museum in Manacor will gradually lose their shine and splendor,” the 63-year-old concluded. “However, I have no doubt that Rafael will always cherish and greatly value his most precious reward: the immense affection and appreciation of the people in our country and many others around the world.”
