Nadal won 16 of 22 Grand Slam titles under his uncle’s tutelage, before their successful partnership ended in 2017.

Seven years later Rafael Nadal will bid farewell to professional tennis, but he will do so without his former coach in attendance.

Why won’t Toni Nadal be at Rafael Nadal’s Davis Cup farewell?

Toni Nadal has witnessed Rafael Nadal achieve plenty of success throughout his tennis career.

From the dominant run at Roland Garros to the Olympic and Davis Cup success for Spain, the 63-year-old witnessed his nephew do it all.

But ahead of Nadal’s last event in Malaga, his uncle has shockingly confirmed he will not be present at the final event of the former World number one’s career.

“I knew that at some point or another, that day of final retirement would come,” the elder Nadal told Radio Marca.

“Knowing that we will never see him in a competition again, the emotion will be there, but I have been getting used to the idea for some time now. I will miss it because I have work on those days and I have to be in Rome.”

Toni Nadal reacts to Rafael Nadal training for the Davis Cup finals

According to Marca, Nadal will start training for the Davis Cup finals on November 14 with teammates Pablo Carreño Busta and Roberto Bautista Agut.

Nadal’s Olympic doubles partner Carlos Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers, will not be present at his first Davis Cup training session, scheduled for November 15.

This is because both players will be competing in the singles and doubles events of the ATP Finals respectively.

Toni said he has watched his nephew preparing for the last tournament of his career and is impressed by what he has seen.

“I’ve seen him train these days and I’ve seen him train at a very high level,” he added. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen him train so well, but we have to wait and see because training is not the same as competing.”

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