Toni Nadal Talks on Rafael Nadal’s Retirement Scenario

Rafael Nadal’s former coach and uncle, Toni Nadal know exactly when his nephew will retire from professional tennis. Toni Nadal has spent a long time coaching Rafael Nadal and knows him in and out.

In an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche, Toni Nadal spoke about Rafael Nadal and his retirement plans. The Spaniard coach suggested that it is difficult to predict if Rafael Nadal will still play for 2 more years but he expects him to retire before he is dropped to world No.40 in the ATP rankings.

He said, “It’s difficult to say if Rafa will still be here until the 35 years of age. He never spoke about age for the retirement, but he will stop well before ending as world No.40.”

Toni Nadal also suggested that Rafael Nadal will be more than happy to bring his arch-rival, Roger Federer on his boat once he retires from tennis. “He (Rafael Nadal) would not care about it anymore and he would be very happy to bring Roger Federer on his boat,” the 58-year-old coach added.

Toni Nadal coached Rafael Nadal for 12 years from 2005 to 2017 on the ATP Tour. However, Toni Nadal revealed in his recent interview that he never charged Rafael Nadal for coaching him.

He said, “I always refused to get paid from him, even if his father insisted on it (laughter). When you see his career and his amount of earnings, I did not do a good affair but it’s too late to change. I wanted to keep my independence and my authority”

Rafael Nadal is currently preparing to defend his title at the Canadian Open in Montreal, which is scheduled to start from Monday. The 33-year-old has never defended a non-clay title in his career and will aim to break this record with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer missing. The Spaniard will face Next Gen Australian Alex de Minaur or a qualifier in the second round.