There are moments where I look at Rafa and I can see that he’s crying – Rafael Nadal’s uncle Toni reveals the veteran gets nervous during his matches

Rafael Nadal’s former coach Toni Nadal has revealed that the veteran still feels nervous during his matches. Nadal is regarded as one of the best players in the history of the game and he has always had a never-give-up attitude on the court.

Meanwhile, it is well known that Toni helped Rafa train since he was a little kid. Toni played an instrumental role in the rise of his nephew and helped him clinch 16 Majors in his career.

Toni and Rafa separated back in 2017 and the former joined Felix Auger-Aliassime’s team in 2021.

“There are moments during matches where, I don’t know about you, but I know Rafael gets nervous. There are moments where I look at Rafa and I can see that he’s crying,” Toni said on the Netflix tennis documentary BreakPoint.

Meanwhile, Nadal was knocked out after he suffered a hip injury in the second round of the Australian Open against Mackenzie McDonald and thus could not defend his title. Toni had recently said that the Spaniard is not thinking about hanging his boots.

“It’ll be difficult because Djokovic is fresher than him,” Toni said. “He’ll have a chance at Roland-Garros, so we’ll see. Ultimately, it’ll be a complicated fight against a great champion like Djokovic. He knows that his career, whatever he does from here on out, has been a great one.

“For now, it’s just about making the effort to continue, as he has been doing for a long time now. The word ‘retirement’ is not on Rafa’s mind.”

Nadal is currently recovering from his hip injury and he will be looking to make a solid comeback to action.