Toni ...

There's one family member that seems to be outside all those crazy family scenes ...

Toni.

Described in Rafa's book as the black sheep of the family, the one that is always on the outside of things. But within all the euphoria that went on with the family celebration, Rafa saved his best for Toni, as he threw himself into his arms. Never have I seen either of them so animated with each other.

There was a very interesting tweet posted by David Nadal (no relation) from IB3 this morning, in which Rafa's grandfather had said this ...

"Rafel Nadal (grandfather) "I Am very happy for Rafa. But especially for Toni. He left everything for his nephew. Toni sacrificed himself very much."

I must admit that I went right off Toni after reading Rafa's book. I think his treatment of him as a youngster bordered on bullying, and I also think he didn't do enough to help with Rafa's confidence in those dark days of all those final defeats. Perhaps they were at a crossroads at some point last year ... perhaps they've come through it.

But we don't actually spend a moment to think of how Rafa's career has affected Toni's own life. Famously, he's not paid a penny to be his coach, but he earns an income vai Rafa's father's businesses. Now clearly no-one in the family seems to be short of a bob or two, but we don't know what personal sacrifice Toni may have had to make to help better Rafa's career.

Perhaps this dynamic of the two of them has best been described in a good article today from Steve Tignor, and I couldn't end this post with any better words than his ...

"Toni spun and danced and cried after the last point. When Rafa got to his uncle, he jumped into his arms. There were a lot of emotions, Nadal said, and love was one of them. And love, as they both knew, can be tough. Toni, whether it was having his nephew play with beat-up tennis balls as a kid, or helping him chase down Novak Djokovic this year, always made Rafa walk the hard road. Today was a day to celebrate how far it had taken them."