Rafael Nadal enjoyed huge success under the tutelage of his uncle Toni, winning 16 Grand Slams, 30 Masters Series titles and two Olympic gold medals.

The pair parted company at the end of last season, finishing their partnership on a high with the French and US Open titles and regaining Rafa’s place at the top of the ATP rankings.

However, the 56-year-old has admitted working with his nephew was not always plain sailing.

And he has admitted the duo suffered some painful defeats over the years – most notably the fourth-round loss to Robin Soderling at the 2009 French Open and the 2012 Australian Open final defeat to Novak Djokovic.

“We’ve had quite a few hard moments,” he told Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo.

“What happens is that I always knew that adversity is part of life and I sensed that we would have difficulties, but I never made a drama neither of the difficulties nor of the defeats.

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“There are defeats that hurt a lot.

“The most painful for me was against Djokovic in Australia 2012, also that of Soderling in Roland Garros in 2009.”

And aside from the defeats, Nadal’s persistent knee injuries – that often threatened his career – were also a particular low point for the pair.

“And there are the injuries, when we did not know if we would continue or not,” he added.

“In 2005, our feeling was, ‘What do we do? Can we continue or not?

“It’s a complicated moment, but in the end you get used to it and the subsequent injuries that prevented him from being a standard-bearer and playing in London 2012 for example, you get used to and they become part of life.”