#3 Toni Nadal
While Toni Nadal is not Rafa Nadal’s father but his uncle, he deserves a place in this list for guiding and coaching the greatest clay court specialist ever in the history of the sport. Uncle Toni (as he’s popularly known) took Nadal under his wing from childhood and prepared his protege, who spread his own wings and took off when he stunned Roger Federer in the semifinals of the 2005 French Open.
Rafa went on to win 14 Grand Slams which included 9 French Open titles in 10 years, showing tremendous spirit and willpower to go toe-to-toe with Roger Federer in his prime.
Much of that courage was instilled in the Mallorcan by the man who came to be known as Uncle Toni.
“We practice Rafa’s mental strength as well. In life you can practice everything. I would have not been hard with someone who could not sustain it. I believed in the effort and work, and it paid off,” professed Toni Nadal recently during an interview. He also admitted that he was extremely hard on his nephew. The fact that Nadal has not had another coach shows how much he respects Toni.
What is the foot injury that has troubled Rafael Nadal over the years? Check here
