Rafael Nadal's tennis career was marked by many injuries, but he can't complain about that, according to his uncle, Toni Nadal.
One of the greatest tennis careers of all time came to an end at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals. Rafael Nadal retired from the sport after Spain's loss to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals of the competition.
It was an unexpectedly early loss for Team Spain, but there was nothing Nadal could do about it, as he lost his singles match and had only to hope his teammates would turn the rest of the tie around.
That didn't happen, and as a result, Nadal's career is now over, and it ended with one last loss for him. He lost only two singles matches at the Davis Cup, his first one and his last one.
With the 22-time major champion's tennis career over, many of his former rivals, but also coaches and people close to him reflected on the past two decades.
His uncle, Toni Nadal, also spoke about Rafael's career. Although he was one of those who were not happy about the retirement ceremony itself, at the end of the day, it wasn't about it.
It was about a celebration of Nadal's great career, which was also marked by many injuries. As he told ATPTour.com, Toni Nadal saw his nephew suffer a lot, especially when he struggled with injuries that looked career-threatening.
"Of course I saw him suffer. But I got so used to seeing him suffer so many times during his tennis life. Many times he had bad injuries, injuries that looked like they were going to impair him and even prevent him from playing anymore."
Toni Nadal also explained that since he saw his nephew suffer so many times, it wasn't surprising to him that the Spaniard's career basically ended in one long suffering.
Still, the 63-year-old coach emphasized that Nadal couldn't complain about it because he was still unbelievably successful and likely exceeded all the expectations, given the health issues he struggled with.
"Because I got so used to that, I wasn’t surprised to see him suffer a bit at the end. The truth is that, even seeing him suffer, I think Rafael can’t complain because life has treated him very well."
With the end of his professional tennis career, Nadal will now enter another chapter of his life. According to Uncle Toni, his nephew's "new life" won't be special in any unexpected way.
"I think my nephew will approach his new life with complete normalcy. I always knew that all sporting journeys have their end. There are no sporting careers that last 100 years."
"In any case, I think that he has been getting used to the idea over the past few months. Of course, retirement is a difficult time, but I don’t think it will be very difficult to focus on the rest of his life doing other things. I think he’ll probably throw himself at it with the same passion as he did any tennis match."