Rafael Nadal and Francisco Roig have spent almost two decades together on and off the tennis court, now the two Spaniards ended their working relationship. The 22-time Grand Slam winner announced this using several short messages on the social media platform "Twitter". Alongside Nadal's uncle Toni, Roig was an integral part of the closest support staff from the start of the Mallorquin's international career on the ATP tour.

"Francis was an important person in my career," said the 36-year-old. "I am very grateful to him for all the years of work and friendship. When we started working together, I was still a child. We then started our journey together with Uncle Toni."

No successor fixed yet

The fact that the "bull from Manacor" will definitely miss his long-time companion can be seen from the further statements of the 14-time French Open winner: "Francis is a great coach who knows tennis very well. He has me very much helped him to get better and better. I can only thank him and wish him all the luck in the world with his new project."

The project mentioned has not yet been made public. Likewise, Nadal has not yet given any information as to whether, and if so, who could take over the role of the 54-year-old in his team. Before becoming a coach, Roig was a tennis pro himself and was particularly successful in doubles.