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Tennis Coach Uncle Toni Nadal, it will be nephew vs. pupil when Rafa faces Auger-Aliassime at French Open 2022
- Updated: May 28, 2022
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By Ricky Dimon
In order to potentially set up a highly-anticipated French Open quarterfinal against Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal will have to get through another blockbuster matchup in the fourth round.
Unlike a Nadal-Djokovic showdown, Nadal vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime isn’t one all-time great vs. another. It isn’t a tale of two top title contenders. Nadal, of course, is the only one of the two who fits those criteria. But this will be must-see television in part because the Spaniard and Canadian do have one thing in common: Toni Nadal in their corner.
Toni, of course, is Nadal’s uncle. He also helps coach Auger-Aliassime.
Conflicting allegiances for Toni will be the be the big story–even though he says he will not attend the match–when Nadal and Auger-Aliassime go head-to-head in the fourth round at Roland Garros on Sunday. The Uncle Toni Bowl became a certainty when Nadal and Auger-Aliassime rolled to third-round wins on Friday afternoon without dropping a set. The 35-year-old erased Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, while the 21-year-old beat Filip Krajinovic 7-6(3), 7-6(2), 7-5.
“I don’t think he will be able to want me to lose, without a doubt,” Nadal said of Toni. “But he’s a professional and he’s with another player. I don’t know what’s gonna happen, if he’s gonna stay in the box or not. But I don’t care; I have zero problem with that. So it’s not a story at all for me. I know what’s the feelings that we have between each other. I know he wants the best for me. Now he’s helping another player. But honestly, for me it’s zero problem.
“We are family more than anything else. Not only family; we are a family that [stays] together all the time. We are in the same village. We spend time in the academy together…. So he’s not only an uncle. He’s more than that.”
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Toni won’t be anything more than an innocent bystander for Sunday’s tilt. He said before the tournament started that he would not attend a Nadal vs. Auger-Aliassime match, and Auger-Aliassime insisted that he will not get any inside information. After all, there may not be any to give!
“I don’t know if I need insight on how Rafa plays, to be honest,” the world No. 9 commented. “I think we all know what he does well. I don’t think Toni will tell me anything new about how Rafa plays…. If there were secrets to [beating] Rafa, he wouldn’t have won (the French Open) 13 times.
“But we had the discussion. It was black and white from the first time we started working together we knew it was a possibility that eventually I would play Rafa when I’m working with Toni. And actually now [it’s here]. I think Toni will watch from a neutral place and enjoy the match.”
Toni can enjoy it knowing that he will have a player in the French Open quarterfinals–likely against Djokovic.
The question is: which one?
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.