Rafael Nadal spent the majority of his legendary career with his uncle, Toni Nadal, as his head coach.
From his debut until 2017, Toni led Rafael’s coaching team, and the Spaniard enjoyed incredible success during that time period.
He won 14 of his eventual 22 Grand Slam titles, including nine of his record 14 crowns at Roland Garros.
However, in 2015, Nadal was enduring his worst season at majors in a long time, having failed to make it past the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and the French Open.
At Wimbledon that season, he was handed a loss that would start to raise question marks over Toni’s future in his role.
Rafael Nadal’s defeat to Dustin Brown at Wimbledon in 2015
Nadal was looking to finally have a strong campaign at the All England Club in 2015 after suffering shocking defeats in his three previous visits.
He bowed out to world number 100 Lukas Rosol in 2012, world number 135 Steve Darcis in 2013, and a young Nick Kyrgios in 2014.
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His campaign was brought to an early end again, however, as Nadal lost to qualifier Dustin Brown in the second round.
As per the BBC, after that, tennis legend John McEnroe told Nadal to ‘get a new damn coach’.
He explained: “It might be time for some fresh blood in the Nadal camp. Are we even allowed to say that? Uncle Toni’s going to be upset. I know Carlos Costa, who manages Nadal, and he’s had other people.
“They have tried to gently persuade Uncle Toni, who has done a magnificent job from when Rafa was a little kid. Clearly, at this stage it would appear that some fresh ideas are in order.”
Rafael Nadal’s continued struggles at Grand Slams until 2017
Nadal’s struggles at majors did not end there, with the then-29-year-old going on to crash out of the US Open in the third round.
In 2016, he lost in the first round of the Australian Open and was forced to withdraw from Roland Garros in round three due to injury.
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He did not feature at Wimbledon and then suffered another early exit at the US Open, when he lost to Lucas Pouille in the fourth round.
Nadal finally returned to a Grand Slam final at the 2017 Australian Open, but was beaten by Roger Federer in five sets.
After that, Nadal finally decided he would part ways with his uncle after the season, with Toni stating: “The truth is that every year I am making fewer decisions, to the point that I won’t be deciding anything anymore.”
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