Coach Toni Nadal: Felix Auger-Aliassime knew I wanted Rafael Nadal to win

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• Rafael Nadal

Coach Toni Nadal revealed he and Felix Auger-Aliassime agreed he would not sit in his box in case he played Rafael Nadal. Last year, Auger-Aliassime hired Toni Nadal as his coach. At this year's French Open, Auger-Aliassime faced Nadal for the first time with Toni Nadal as his coach.

Toni Nadal didn't sit in Auger-Aliassime's box and he made it pretty clear he was rooting for his nephew to win. “I had a deal with Felix in which I wouldn’t sit in his box in the case he faced Rafa. He knew I wanted Rafa to win and didn’t even go to his last practices before that match.

If he didn’t accept that, I would stop coaching him right away, but he is a good kid," Toni Nadal said, per Jose Morgado.

Toni Nadal. “I had a deal with Felix in which I wouldn’t sit in his box in the case he faced Rafa.

He knew I wanted Rafa to win and didn’t even go to his last practices before that match. If he didn’t accept that, I would stop coaching him right away, but he is a good kid” https://t.co/sCeZ9BHRyC — José Morgado (@josemorgado) June 2, 2022

Nadal praised Auger-Aliassime

Auger-Aliassime competed extremely well against Nadal but the record 13-time French Open champion won the match in five sets 6-2 4-6 6-2 7-6 (4).

“He is a great player without a doubt. One of the best players in the world,” Nadal said of about Auger-Aliassime. “He is very young and with a lot of power and mobility. For me, he was a very, very tough opponent today.

He does a lot of things well and has been improving and I wish him the very best for the rest of the season. It is a very important victory for me without a doubt”. Nadal claimed the first break of the fifth set in the eighth game and served out for the match in the following game.

"He raised his level when he needed to. We were, he was serving well in the fifth set, playing well behind the serve, being very aggressive, and I think he took it even higher, one step further, from 4-3," Auger-Aliassime said. It was the second meeting between Nadal and Auger-Aliassime. Nadal now owns a 2-0 head-to-head versus Auger-Aliassime.