Rafael Nadal did not retire 'as he would have liked'

"We have a family chat and Rafa said on Thursday that in a few hours, a video was coming out announcing his retirement," Toni revealed. "In the group, we are the five brothers and older nephews."

Toni opened up about his nephew feeling unfilled about ending his career abruptly after declaring in early 2024 that he still had a lot left in the tank. 

"Rafa would have liked another good season on clay and that means winning or at least performing at a good level," Toni said. "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. Looking back now, you can say why he put it off, but Rafa had the hope of still giving his best version and when he was not convinced, he retired."

Toni then compared Rafa's exit to that of Roger Federer, who, too, retired in 2021 after playing just 19 matches in his final two seasons. Like Nadal, Federer's last few years were plagued by injuries, with his last title coming at his home nation's ATP 500 event in Basel in October 2019. Similarly, Nadal signs off after his final title, the 2022 French Open, coming more than two years before his retirement.

"The same thing happened to Federer, he tried for two years and left," Toni added. 

Ultimately, Nadal met the same fate as many of his contemporary greats, such as Federer, Serena Williams and Andy Murray, all of whom struggled to overcome injuries in their final few years. 

Historically, only Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg, Steffi Graf and a few others enjoyed fruitful swan songs on their way out of the sport. Now, it remains to be seen if Novak Djokovic, 37, can buck the recent trend.

Nadal is presently in Saudi Arabia to play in the Six Kings Slam exhibition event that will run through Oct. 16-19 in Riyadh. 

The tennis world will bid him goodbye at the Davis Cup final in November, where he teams up with his protege, Carlos Alcaraz, to represent his country before hanging up his racket for good.