Rafa Nadal has opened up on ending his partnership with his long time coach and Uncle Toni. The pair has been together for over two decades, winning and losing games.
Toni decided to focus on the development of tennis potentials at Rafa Nadal academy in Mallorca as he would not be with the Spaniard from 2018.
“Toni is completely free, like he has always been, to take his own decisions and to choose what makes him happiest. I am comfortable with what he decides is best for him. Probably it’s the moment to focus on other priorities and he said that the academy is one of these ones,” the 14-time Grand Slam winner said.
“It’s a very ambitious project and also we don’t have to forget that he has a family, three kids and two of them play tennis,” Nadal added.
Nadal said he was grateful for his Uncle’s lifelong support, living everyday with him for years. However, it seems the decision was not jointly agreed and that it caught Nadal off-guard when his career was winding down.
Nadal now has his father Carlos Moya in his coaching crew. Toni claims he made the decision and shared it with his brother Carlos but decided to leave out Nadal to avoid him being distracted.
“When I travelled to Australia I had decided to leave. When I left for Melbourne I did not tell Rafael, but I said goodbye to everyone because I knew it would be the last time I would go there,” Toni said.
Nadal has said that he would discuss with the assistant coach in Francis Roig and Moya to know the new direction the crew would take at the end of the year when Toni exists.
“Primarily I suppose my team could stay the same if there are no issues. I don’t know if I will need someone who can help me for some weeks but if I do, it will be a consistent relationship,” Nadal added.