"If we had retired every time Rafael Nadal had problems, he could've taken away 5 or 6 Slams" - Uncle Toni on Spaniard's career-long battle with pain

Rafael Nadal's uncle and former coach, Toni Nadal recently commented on the Spaniard's career-long struggles with injury. The 22-time Grand Slam champion recently announced his retirement, which came following a slew of injuries.

The 38-year-old shared a clip on social to announce that he would retire following the knockout stages of the Davis Cup in Malaga, Spain, next month.

"But I am very excited that my last tournament will be the final of the Davis Cup and representing my country. I think I’ve come full circle, since one of my first great joys as a professional tennis player was the Davis Cup final in Seville in 2004," Nadal said.

Nadal missed most of the 2023 season due to a hip injury. While he competed in a few tournaments this season, reaching the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International and the final of the Nordea Open, he missed notable events including Wimbledon and the US Open, citing fitness concerns.

Injury concerns have long plagued the 22-time Major champion. In a recent conversation with Marca, Rafael Nadal's uncle, Toni Nadal, stated that if they had retired due to injuries, the former might have missed out on five or six Grand Slam titles.

"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," Toni Nadal said.

Nadal missed most of the 2005 clay-court season due to a stress fracture in his left foot but made a timely recovery to debut at the French Open, which he ultimately won. According to Toni Nadal, the Mallorcan has been "incapable" of playing a Grand Slam without taking painkillers since the time.

"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..." He added.

Despite being plagued by injuries throughout his career, Rafael Nadal achieved numerous milestones. Among his 22 Major titles, 14 came at the French Open. Additionally, the 38-year-old secured an impressive 92 ATP Tour singles titles, including 36 Masters 1000 titles.

"Rafael Nadal has not retired as he would have liked": Toni Nadal

The Spaniard in action at the Paris Olympics (Image Source: Getty)

In the aforementioned interview, Toni Nadal expressed that Rafael Nadal had hoped for another successful clay season, at least winning or performing well. He added that the former World No. 1's retirement was not as he envisioned.

"Rafa would have liked to have another good season on clay and that means winning or, at least, performing at a good level. He has not retired as he would have liked I always told him not to complain because life has treated us better than we expected," he said.

Nadal last competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he exited in the second round of the singles draw after losing to Novak Djokovic and was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the doubles event.

The 38-year-old is in Spain's squad for the Davis Cup, where they will face the Netherlands in the quarterfinals at the Martin Carpena Arena on November 19. The winner of the tie will takeon either Germany or Canada in the semifinals.