Toni Nadal, uncle and former coach of World No.2 Rafael Nadal during a training session a few years back. (Getty Images)
Rafael Nadal revealed that it was his uncle that made him practice regularly in a recent TV interview.
It is well known that Nadal’s uncle, Toni Nadal, played a major role in helping the Spaniard shape his career.
Nadal was speaking to channel CBS46 Fred Kalil during a face-to-face interview when the latter asked him questions regarding his uncle.
“My uncle Toni he was the coach of the Tennis Club of my village in Manacor and I just started going there like normal kid. I started as you can imagine two times per week, three times per week and then I started playing well, said Nadal who started playing tennis at the age of three under Toni.
“It’s true that my uncle had been decisive on that I am playing tennis but things had been going well. My uncle see myself a good potential and he started to teach me more seriously,” Nadal explained.
“And yeah at the age seven-eight I almost practice it like every single day,” he ended.
A former World No.1, Nadal burst into the scene as a teenager and has since then gone on to win 19 Grand Slam titles – most of which he won under the guidance of his uncle.
Toni Nadal was the record holder of most Grand Slam titles won as coach until February 2, 2020.
Novak Djokovic and coach Marian Vajda won their 17 Grand Slam title together at the Australian Open earlier this year.
Toni and Rafael, formed a formidable pair winning 16 Grand Slams together until cracks started appearing in 2015. In that year, Nadal failed to reach the semi-finals of any of the four Majors.
Rafael Nadal added former Spanish tennis great Carlos Moya to work alongside his uncle as his coach in 2016. In February 2017, Toni announced that he had decided to leave his nephew’s coaching team.
Follow our dedicated tennis page for instant news and updates
