"I was lucky to live through some incredible moments": Toni Nadal shares experience of working with nephew Rafael Nadal

Uncle of the former world number one Rafael Nadal, Toni Nadal, has stated that he had more ‘fun’ coaching his nephew when he was younger compared to when he became older. The 38-year-old is often regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category in the Open era, having won as many as 24 Grand Slam titles.

Nadal, who is also known as the ‘King of Clay’ for winning 14 French Open titles, which is also a record in the competition’s history, retired from professional tennis in 2024 after representing Spain in the Davis Cup. The primary reason behind his decision to retire from the sport was his fitness concerns, which forced him to stay out of action for a considerable amount of time in the last few years of his career.

Rafael’s uncle, Toni, has been recently quoted in a report by The Kansas City Star where he stated that he had more ‘fun’ while coaching his nephew when he was younger. He stated that he was lucky to enjoy a lot of great moments with the former world number one but none was as ‘good’ as the early days with him.

"Well, I've said it many times [that] I had much more fun coaching my nephew when he was little than when he was older. All my life, I've enjoyed training much more because I think it's a more decisive stage,” he said. "Many have asked me about the best moment I lived with Rafael," Toni shared. "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 get us improve our drive, our backhand, or our serve. We never could get the serve right though. 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.”