Toni Nadal and Felix Auger-Aliassime had a deal in place in case he ever faced Rafael Nadal, with the coach coming out to explain what it was.
Having coached his nephew Rafa Nadal for the majority of his career, seeing him win countless Grand Slams, beating the world's best on the biggest stages, it is inevitable that Toni would want his blood family to win whenever on a tennis court.
However, when accepting the job to coach Felix Auger-Aliassime, it was almost written in the stars that one day the Canadian was going to come up against the Spanish great.
This was certainly something which they did not fail to plan for, with Auger-Aliassime and his coach coming to an agreement in case this were to ever happen.
“I had a deal with Felix in which I wouldn’t sit in his box in the case he faced Rafa. He knew I wanted Rafa to win and didn’t even go to his last practices before that match. If he didn’t accept that, I would stop coaching him right away, but he is a good kid”
It was something Rafa hinted at before the match by saying that he doesn't think his uncle wants him to lose the match. He was right and Nadal was happy to see the younger Nadal secure the win against the player he coaches.
Despite being a simple case of family first for Toni, it has not stopped there being a great deal of controversy surrounding the issue. Lots of pundits and fans have slammed Toni for not having his priorities straight, but this does not seem to be, for now, affecting the player-coach relationship he has with the Canadian.
Only time will tell whether this will in fact grate on the relationship or whether this will spark the end of the pairing. For now, they continue as normal.