Rafael Nadal's uncle Toni on difficulty as new parent: "When he first has to go to Australia, it will be hard"

Rafael Nadal became a father on October 8th and a few days before that happened his uncle Toni Spoke to the media.

The brief talk between Toni Nadal and the local Mallorca Bulettin touched upon tennis topics as well as the at the time upcoming childbirth. Toni noted that Nadal would be a great father just like he is a tennis player.

He said:

"He will do this totally normally. He's not a special guy, as all footballers and many others do this."

Toni did note that Nadal will likely experience difficulty being away from the family as it's now richer by one more member and quite a significant one. He mentioned the Australian Open stretch as an obvious example of that:

"When he first has to go to Australia, it will be hard to be away, but in the end it is the price you have to pay."

Some have speculated that becoming a father could make him even more accepting of his retirement with tennis becoming less important as he ages. Time will tell but several tennis players were able to continue going strong with the most obvious example being Novak Djokovic.