Rafael Nadal’s uncle Toni admitted Novak Djokovic may be the best of all time – with the caveat that if his nephew had veered away from injuries, he would have won a lot more. At the age of 38, Nadal recently announced that he will be walking away from the court at the end of the Davis Cup finals between November 19-24.

Djokovic and Nadal endured numerous battles with each other, which are often remembered as some of the greatest matches of all time. The Serbian has won 24 Grand Slam titles compared to the 22 Nadal lifted over the course of his career.

Even Toni, who coached the Spaniard between 1990 and 2017, admits Djokovic can now own the mantra of being the greatest men’s player to have ever lived. However, he makes the admission while insisting that his nephew would have been head and shoulders above the Serb were it not for his injuries.

Toni recently said: “I think my nephew would be the best in history if he didn’t have so many injuries. When people ask me who is the best in history, I say, ‘The best in history is Djokovic because of everything he accomplished, and the one who played the best tennis is Federer. But I think my nephew would be the best in history if he didn’t have so many injuries.”

When asked about his reaction to Nadal’s retirement, Toni added: “When something ends, there is always sadness, but I am happy to see the impact Rafael left in the world of sports.

“If someone had told me in 2004 that my nephew would retire in 2024 after winning everything he’s won, I couldn’t have imagined it. Rafa won 22 GS titles during his career, a sporting record for which he often risked his health, even when he was injured. If Rafa didn’t sometimes take risks, his trophy cabinet would be much smaller today.”

Nadal will be a part of the lucrative Six King’s Slam competition in Saudi Arabia, where he will be up against Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune. Merely competing in the competition guarantees him a minimum prize of £1.12million while the winner will take home £4.5m.

He will then go onto the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, where he will be part of a team also featuring Alcaraz, Roberto Bautista-Agut, Pablo Cerreno Busta and Marcel Granollers. The Spanish face the Dutch in the quarter-finals on November 19.

When he explained why he had decided to retire, Nadal said: “It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make. But, in this life, everything has a beginning and an end. And I think it’s the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined.”