"Rafa did not retire as he would have liked"

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The end of Rafael Nadal's career is just a month and a half away, a moment that has resonated with everyone, including his own family. Toni Nadal, the man who instilled in him all the values that we later saw on the court, recently shared in an interview with Eurosport how his nephew's announcement has impacted him, even revealing how the family found out about it. Someone who has never held back from speaking his mind on any topic was not going to start now.

"Rafa would have liked to have another successful clay court season, but that would mean winning, or at least performing well in those tournaments," Toni vehemently asserts, knowing full well what Rafa's aspirations were in this final phase of his career. However, his body didn't allow for the desired continuity, leading to an early goodbye. "I don't think he retired as he would have wanted. I always told him not to complain about anything because life has always treated us much better than we expected," Toni reflects.

"Looking back, I can now understand why he postponed this announcement for so long; it was because he still had hope of showing his best version, until the day came when he lost that conviction and retired," the coach transparently summarizes regarding the plans the 22-time Grand Slam champion might have had in mind months before the announcement. "There comes a point where the body no longer responds, where pushing your body entails too much suffering. The same happened to Roger Federer; he tried for a couple of years and then left," the Mallorcan aptly compares, confirming that the great legends only hang up their racquets due to physical reasons, almost never mental.

HOW THE ANNOUNCEMENT UNFOLDED

In addition to providing us with such valuable information about his nephew, good old Toni also shared how he learned that his nephew had called time on his career. In fact, he admits he was far from the first to know, as it was only a few hours before the video was released that Toni, alongside the rest of the family, became aware of the upcoming announcement.

"We had a family chat, and Rafa informed us that on Thursday, in a few hours, a video of him announcing his retirement would be released. In the group chat, we are all the older siblings and nephews, so I opted for a somewhat dry message: 'Congratulations, you had a good career.' The others took a bit longer, but I always say things in advance, which makes me less lazy," he concludes with the humor that has accompanied him all these years.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, “Rafael no se ha retirado como le hubiera gustado”