Rafael Nadal's father Sebastián Nadal Homar and mother Ana María Parera seen in the stands supporting their son during a match in 2015. (Getty Images)
Rafael Nadal has always been supported by his family members but that took a hit when his parents split after a divorce.
It is not something new to tennis fans around the world that World No.2 Nadal is a very family-centric person.
He has always had his uncle Toni Nadal as his coach and entrusts his close family with his business endeavours. However, there is one devastating event that happened during his career which affected his performance.
Back in 2011, Nadal had said that he considered his family extremely important, partly because he grew up in a small village in Mallorca and was used to having his relatives around all the time.
Unlike many other superstar athletes, Nadal never had to undergo any major relationship upheavals – partly because he has always been very private about his life but there is one event that destroyed him particularly.
Nadal was emerging as a player, winning many ATP titles and six Grand Slams under his belt – most of the success which he attributed to good family life when tragedy struck in the form of his parent’s divorce.
This was a shocker for the young tennis star, who had just bagged his maiden Wimbledon title the year before.
He was just 23 when his father Sebastián Nadal Homar and mother Ana María Parera decided to separate and this clearly affected his performance in the court.
The ‘King of Clay’ lost his French Open crown that year – the only year between 2005 and 2014 he hadn’t won at the Roland Garros. Moreover, he failed to defend his Wimbledon crown also as he took almost a year to regain his composure and win another title.
Nadal in his autobiography “Rafa: My Story” had described that his parents split was devastating.
“They were the mainstay of my life and that pillar had crumbled. I was depressed, I lacked enthusiasm. I had lost all love for life,” he wrote.
Nadal was devasted that such a crisis had happened in his family after nearly 30 years of marriage and it broke his heart. “My attitude was bad. I was depressed, lacking in enthusiasm. On the surface, I remained a tennis-playing automaton, but the man inside had lost all love of life,” he added.
However, sources later claimed that Nadal’s parents once again reunited in 2011 after two years of separation.
The couple were seen next to each other in the Royal Box for supporting Nadal in his first-round match at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships.
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