Rafael Nadal took to social media to announce that long-time coach Francis Roig will be leaving his teams after working together for 18 years. Roig was in Nadal’s coaching team right from the start of his career in 2005. He was with Nadal when he won his first major title and over the course of 18 years, saw him win 22 Grand Slam titles.
Nadal took to Instagram to share a heartfelt message for Roig. He said that Roig will be starting his new personal project as a coach and hence will be leaving the team. Nadal recalled Roig joined the team alongside uncle Toni and later worked with Carlos Moya and Marc Lopez in his team. Nadal shared that Roig has been an important person in his career and expressed his gratitude for all these years of work and friendship.
“I want to inform you that Francis Roig leaves the team and starts a new personal project as coach. After 18 seasons with me, he started by joining the team and worked with us alongside my uncle Toni and subsequently alongside Carlos Moyá and recently Marc Lopez. Francis has been an important person in my career and I am so grateful to him for all these years of work and friendship,” Nadal wrote.
Rafael Nadal wishes Francis Roig luck with his new project
Nadal said that Roig is a great technician and knows tennis very well. The coach helped Rafa get a lot better on the court since he was a kid along with Toni Nadal. He then concluded by wishing him luck with his new project.
“When we started working together I was a kid and along with my uncle Toni, we started at the track. Francis is a great technician who knows tennis very well and has helped me a lot to get better and better. I have only words of thanks and wish him all the luck in the world in his new project!” he concluded.
Nadal and Roig’s work relationship will go down as one of the most successful ones in tennis history as the coach helped Nadal win a mammoth 22 major titles and many other tour titles. The Spanish maestro will be back in action next month in Australia.
