Rafael Nadal's surprise retirement announcement shocks family

The uncle of the former world number one Rafael Nadal, Toni Nadal, has revealed that the legendary tennis star only informed his family about the retirement in the morning when it was officially announced. The 38-year-old, who is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category in the Open era, has announced his retirement on Thursday in an emotional video posted on the social media platforms.

“It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make,” he said. “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.”

Nadal’s uncle, Toni, who has also worked with the Spaniard as a coach, has recently spoked to Spanish media outlet Marca where he revealed that the former world number one only informed his family about the decision on Thursday morning.

“We have a family chat and Rafa said on Thursday that in a few hours a video was coming out announcing his retirement,” he said. “In the group we are the five brothers and older nephews. I’m a pretty dry guy and I wrote to him: ‘Congratulations, you’ve had a good career.’ The others went on a bit longer. I say things up front, which makes me less lazy.”

Nadal, who returned to the court earlier this year after spending nearly 12 months on the sideline because of a hip injury, finished his career with 22 Grand Slam titles in the men’s singles category, the second-most, only behind Serbia’s legendary tennis star Novak Djokovic. The former world number one won the French Open 14 times, which is a record in the competition’s history. It is because of this reason, he is also known as the ‘King of Clay’.