The ex-coach and uncle of tennis giant Rafael Nadal have backed his decision to pull out of next week’s Monte Carlo Masters due to fitness concerns.
Toni Nadal, who coached the 22-time Grand Slam champion for the majority of his career until 2017, told the news agency EFE that there was no point playing in the tournament if the Spaniard wasn’t fully fit. On Thursday Nadal issued a statement saying that he will not be starting his clay campaign in Monte Carlo because his body ‘simply won’t allow him’ to do so. He hasn’t played on the Tour since the first week of January at the Brisbane International where he reached the quarter-finals. Shortly after that event, he sustained a hip injury which ruled him out of the Australian Open. He has only been able to play two tournaments over the past 15 months due to injury-related issues.
“These are very difficult moments for me, sporting wise,” Nadal commented. “Unfortunately I have to tell you that I am not going to be playing in Monte Carlo. My body simply won’t allow me.
“And even if I am working hard & making the maximum effort every day with all the will to play and compete again at tournaments that have been very important for me, the truth is that I can’t play today.
“The only thing I can do is to accept the situation and try to look at the immediate future keeping the excitement and will to play in order to give me a chance for things to get better.”
The ongoing injury woes for the 37-year-old raise concerns about how his season will progress with it possibly being the last one he plays before retiring. Although Nadal has previously stated that he is yet to decide on his future.
Speaking about the latest development, Uncle Toni believes it was the right decision to take.
“Either you go (to a tournament) one hundred percent or better not participate,” Toni told the EFE news agency.
“For the moment he can’t play there, he hasn’t recovered yet. He has discomfort when serving, otherwise he has no problems when training,” he added.
Nadal is yet to confirm when he will be returning to action but it is hoped that he will be able to play at the two biggest tennis tournaments in his home country. The Barcelona Open, which is an ATP 500 event, will begin on April 15h followed immediately by the Madrid Masters.
“I don’t know what he will do regarding Barcelona and Madrid. I haven’t been in his sports environment for years. When we see each other I ask him how it’s going, but I don’t ask him about his plans.” Toni replied when asked about his nephew’s schedule.
“I hope he can play because it is necessary to have a good Roland Garros. A few days ago I saw him and asked him. He told me that it was not going well and I told him the same thing as always: ‘Let’s not complain, it has gone very well for us’ because we thought that his career would end in 2011 or 2012.”
As for the coming months, Toni isn’t ruling Nadal out of contention for the big titles despite his recent setbacks. Tipping him to medal at the Paris Olympics if he manages to stay healthy. This year’s Olympic tennis event will be held at Roland Garros, which is the venue of the French Open.
“If he manages to recover and is well, I think he can win a medal in Paris. It is difficult, of course, but one cannot rule him out as one of the favourites,” he concluded.
Nadal has won 92 ATP titles and earned more than $134M in prize money so far in his career.
