“He had been crying,” Toni Nadal spills the beans on Rafael Nadal’s pre-match nervousness in Netflix’s BreakPoint

Toni Nadal reveals his nephew's pre-match anxiety while talking to Netflix's BreakPoint


“He had been crying,” Toni Nadal spills the beans on Rafael Nadal’s pre-match nervousness in Netflix’s BreakPoint

Rafael Nadal and Toni Nadal

Toni Nadal, former coach, and uncle of Rafael Nadal reveals how the Spaniard faced the pre-match nerves in Netflix’s BreakPoint. Toni was featured in behind the scenes of the documentary where he spoke about how the pre-match pressure can take a toll on players. And this has no exception to star players like his nephew, Rafa.

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The former world No.1 has been vulnerable to pre-match pressure many times in his career. Toni revealed that even Rafa couldn’t handle the pressure at times and was seen crying. Toni Nadal coached his nephew in the professional sport and won 16 Grand Slam titles together making them one of the most successful duos in the history of the sport.

During the scenes from the documentary, Toni revealed saying “Although his rational mind knows he handles challenges well, Rafa still gets extremely nervous & that’s okay. There were times when I looked at him and I could see he had been crying.”

Although Rafa has been playing at the professional level for a very long time, he still undergoes these incidents sometimes. However, he makes sure he handles them well and lets them not affect his match performance. Rafa’s uncle also said that he turns these emotions into motivation and wins the matches on the court. Rafa is hence seen doing a lot of pre-match rituals in order to cope with his anxiety.

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Rafael Nadal aims to finish on a high note

With Roger Federer retired, every tennis fan is worried that Rafa will retire too. However, even toward the end of his career, Rafa was able to win two Grand Slam titles which is an unbelievable achievement. With Nole missing out on the chance to participate in the Australian Open last year, Rafa won his 21st Grand Slam title surpassing Roger to be the most-crowned player in tennis.

He later went on to win his favorite Roland Garros too. However, injuries had dented his chances to compete at his best and he couldn’t perform well. He started 2023 on a bad note having lost two consecutive matches even before the AO. He faced a shocking second-round defeat at Melbourne Park due to his injury concerns. However, fans believe that Rafa will return to his form and fitness before his favorite Roland Garros.

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