“When [Rafael] forces his body it suffers on one side or the other,” Toni Nadal told MARCA. “The same thing happened to Federer, he tried for two years and left.”

Photo credit: Corleve/Mark Peterson

Rafael Nadal will close the curtain on his brilliant career on home soil next month.

Ideally, the king of clay wanted to retire after digging in the dirt one last time.

Last week, the 38-year-old Spanish superstar announced he will retire after playing the Davis Cup Final 8 in Malaga, Spain, next month.

Toni Nadal, Rafael Nadal’s uncle and original coach, said the 14-time French Open champion dreamed of one final clay season—but his body won’t permit it.

In a wide-ranging interview with Spanish news agency MARCA, Toni Nadal detailed his reaction to Rafa Nadal’s retirement announcement and career.

“Rafa would have liked another good season on clay and that means winning or, at least, performing at a good level,” Toni Nadal told MARCA. “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.”

Toni Nadal said at age 38, Rafa’s body is not as resilient as it once was, and compared his challenges recovery from injury to Roger Federer’s issues trying to return from knee surgery before ultimately retiring.

“It’s just that the body doesn’t respond to him,” Toni Nadal said. “When he forces his body it suffers on one side or the other. The same thing happened to Federer, he tried for two years and left.”

Rafael Nadal famously said suffering is a prerequisite to Grand Slam success.

Toni Nadal said his nephew played in some pain—and required pain killers for Grand Slams—for many years because of his assortment of injuries.

“Rafael got used to playing with pain, but I told his father that if we had retired every time he had problems he could have taken away five or six Grand Slam titles,” Toni Nadal said. “Since 2005, he has been virtually unable to finish a workout, unable to play a Grand Slam match without taking painkillers. The problem he had is that he got used to playing with pain and saw how most of the time he came out stronger. He thought that this time it would be the same and what happens is that now after the knee, it came to his hip…”

What’s next for Rafael Nadal?

The two-time Olympic gold-medal champion plans to spend his time at home with his family.

Asked to assess Big 3 champions Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal, Toni Nadal said the numbers don’t lie: Big 3 made their mark on tennis history.

“I’m a logical guy and I rely on numbers,” Toni Nadal said. “Before Djokvoc, Federer and Rafa, other ‘Big Three’ such as Connors, McEnroe and Borg won between the three 26. Sampras, Agassi and Courier, 26. I

“t is very difficult for three of the greatest in history to be found in the same era. It’s true that now there are two who stand out above the others, Alcaraz and Sinner, but I don’t see any young man who can stand up to them and that did happen before.”