Ruud explains how Rafael Nadal became a left-hander (source : Toni)

In UTS’ exclusive show, All on the Table, Ruud says Nadal was two-handed on both sides when he first started playing.

Rafael Nadal, Paris Olympics 2024 – © Spp / Psnewz

May 22, 2025

The story of how Rafael Nadal became a left-hander has been told by many people down the years, but not many of the story-tellers have had the inside track.

The idea that Toni Nadal forced his nephew to play left-handed, even though he was naturally right-handed at everything else, has been largely debunked and now Casper Ruud has revealed how it happened, at least according to uncle Toni.

In the latest edition of UTS’ exclusive show, All on the Table, Ruud chatted with Jakub Mensik and Tomas Machac, covering many topics. After discussing the merits and failings of having a one-handed backhand, they moved onto the forehand and in particular, Nadal.

Ruud famously spent a considerable time at the Nadal academy in the years leading up to his two Roland-Garros final runs and the Norwegian shared what Toni had told him.

“I asked Tony, when I started in the academy….he’s right-handed with most stuff but when he was young, when he was small, he played double-handed forehand and backhand.

“And Toni did an exercise with him one day, just gave him easy balls in the middle of the court and told Rafa, try to hit a good shot, a winner. And Rafa would always go this way, like a righty’s backhand. He would always prefer this side. So Toni, I guess, thought that I want the forehand to be the killer shot so said, then I want him to be a lefty.”

“I think some people think Tony forced him to be a lefty but I don’t think it was like that. It was a good decision.”