Rafael Nadal's uncle Toni gets honest about whether his relationship with Spaniard has changed since he became a father of 2

Rafael Nadal's uncle Toni recently made a candid admission on his present-day relationship with his nephew and whether anything has changed between them after the Spaniard's retirement and fatherhood. Nadal and wife Maria are parents to two sons, 2022-born Rafael Jr. and Miquel, who was born in August this year.

In a recent interview, Toni, who guided his nephew to 16 of his 22 Major titles, first touched on the personality changes, if any, have taken shape in the former World No. 1. According to the 64-year-old, his nephew is still very much the same person at heart despite the drastic evolution of his life in recent years.

"As a person, Rafael is still the same, he still does the same things and behaves the same way, although it’s true that he’s now a father and has other concerns. Personally, I can assure you that nothing has changed since his retirement," the veteran coach said (as reported by Punto de Break).

Toni subsequently shed light on the situation of his relationship with nephew Rafael Nadal these days, claiming that they are like friends. He also went on to discuss the overall environment of the close-knit Nadal family at large.

"My relationship with him is more of a friendship than an uncle-nephew relationship. We’re a close family, we do a lot of things together, like playing golf or having dinner together, and I also often visit his children. We have a normal family relationship," he added.

"Rafael Nadal learned for many years to live with pain" - Spaniard's uncle Toni after retirement announcement in 2024

Toni (left) and Rafael Nadal (right) (Source: Getty)

Not long after the former No. 1 announced that he would be retiring following his representation for Spain at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals, his uncle Toni penned an emotional Instagram post. In one part of the post, the veteran coach touched on how his nephew had gotten used to playing with pain over the years.

"He learned for many years to live with pain, he overcame it on many occasions and, despite the doubts and uncertainty, sometimes he was able to come through it not only victoriously, but even stronger," Toni wrote.

The Spaniard's 2024 Davis Cup Finals outing didn't go according to plan, as Spain fared poorly at the prestigious men's international team tennis tournament. The farewell he was given at the event was also widely seen as underwhelming considering his stellar contributions to tennis. However, he received a fitting send-off at this year's French Open, where he was joined by his once-fierce rivals Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.