Rafael Nadal's physical issues in the last few years are well-known, but his uncle and former coach, Toni Nadal, opened up about how long his nephew had managed pain.
After battling for two years to overcome constant injury problems, most notably a severe hip issue sustained at the 2023 Australian Open, Nadal announced he would retire next month after the Davis Cup Finals.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion is currently in Saudi Arabia to compete in the Six Kings Slam, an exhibition event featuring Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, and Holger Rune.
That will likely be the penultimate professional appearance of Nadal's career before the Davis Cup Finals. The Paris Masters takes place before then, but the 38-year-old risking an injury ahead of his last tournament seems unlikely.
For years, the French Open was where many expected Nadal to retire after his incredible domination of that Grand Slam, winning 14 titles. But that became impossible because of the Spaniard's injury problems.
Toni Nadal admitted his nephew would have liked one more good season on clay before retirement. In the same interview, he mentioned that the 22-time Grand Slam champion could become Real Madrid's Director of Football in the future.
However, representing his country in the Davis Cup Finals on home soil in Malaga should be a fitting way to mark the end of Nadal's incredible career and celebrate one of the greatest players in tennis history.
What Nadal has achieved over the years is even more remarkable after his uncle Toni discussed the extent of the pain he managed during a recent interview with the Spanish newspaper Marca.
Toni revealed that the former world No. 1 has not been able to finish training sessions without painkillers since 2005, which would have made him 18 or 19 years old when that started.
"Since 2005, he has been practically incapable of finishing training session, incapable of playing a Grand Slam match without taking painkillers. The problem he had is that he got used to playing with pain and saw that most of the time he came out stronger. He thought that this time it would be the same and what happened is that now after the knee, it came to the hip."
That is a startling revelation. Nadal has endured many injuries over the years, but no one could have known that he was already taking painkillers as a teenager. That makes how long he stayed at the top of the sport even more incredible.
Toni also said his nephew would have enjoyed much less success if he had retired after every physical problem, as they happened repeatedly throughout his career.
"Rafael got used to playing with pain, but I told his father that if we had retired every time he had problems, he could have taken away five or six Grand Slam titles."
Nadal rightly built a reputation as a warrior who never gave up. This new information from his uncle and former coach further demonstrates that legendary resolve.