The varied interpretations of Toni Nadal's retirement only hit Rafael Nadal the hardest

Toni Nadal’s announcement that he is stepping away as his nephew Rafael Nadal’s coach from next year to focus on the Rafael Nadal Academy is still taking time to sink in. While this means that the 14-time Grand Slam champion’s coaching responsibilities will rotate between Carlos Moya, who was added to the team at the end of last season, and Francisco Roig, it has also resulted in murmurs that the parting between the two Nadals hasn’t entirely been amicable.

However, Toni Nadal has refuted these rumours about the alleged erosion of their professional relationship. “All this decision means that my contribution has become secondary and that I will focus on the academy. This is the reality, but it’s not true to say I have a problem with my nephew. Absolutely not. Next year, if Rafael asks me to come to Monte Carlo for the [Monte Carlo Masters] because, say, Carlos Moya can’t make it, I’ll be delighted to,” said Toni, in an interview with the New York Times.

The senior Nadal also suggested that not only had the tone of his message completely changed, but it had also lost its meaning, with innuendoes marring what was a straightforward decision.

Toni Nadal was referring to a statement he had made initially, during his retirement announcement last week, where he had self-deprecatingly mentioned how times had changed since he had first started coaching a three-year-old Rafael Nadal.

According to Toni Nadal, a great deal was made out of this one statement, purporting it to be the cause of the apparent personality clashes between him and his nephew. “[It was] my error. If I thought it was big news, I would not have said it in that setting. They put together what I said in the morning and what I said in the afternoon in the report as if they were linked. There is no relation.”

The conundrum created for Rafael Nadal

There’s, however, one aspect that stands out pointedly in the debris left behind in Toni Nadal’s seemingly casual declaration. That, it has been as much of a surprise to Nadal himself, as it has been for the sport’s onlookers. Though Toni had taken the final call about moving aside as the primary figure in the Spaniard’s coaching box during the Australian Open itself, the latter himself was informed about the decision only in the subsequent weeks.

While this delayed conveying of information sought to prevent Nadal from getting distracted during the business end of what came to be a momentous fortnight, it also meant that he had had little time to process the unexpected.

“He was thinking about the short term, and the short term looked very good. But it was not like I was stepping down immediately. If I had stopped with Rafa overnight, that clearly would have been big news, but I really didn’t think me deciding to focus on the academy next year would be big news,” the coach added as a reference point to further clarification.

Despite knowing it all too well that his nephew is taking it hard, especially after the renewed success they had had in Melbourne Park, Toni Nadal also recognises that in engaging Moya, he has not only secured one last coup, but has also managed to steer Rafael Nadal’s career in the right hands without having to worry about disturbing repercussions. Even if his decision raises speculative insinuations about the nature of his enmeshed association with his protégé.