Rafael Nadal's Coach Not A Fan Of Female Davis Cup Captain

Toni Nadal, uncle and coach of Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal, appeared on an Onda Cero radio show earlier today and voiced his displeasure at the hiring of a woman as the captain of the Spanish Davis Cup team.

On Sunday, Gala Leon - who is a former WTA player - was named the first female Davis Cup captain in Spain's history. She will be replacing Carlos Moya.

"It is preferable that [the captain] is someone with a background in the world of men's tennis," Toni said, according to a report by Fox Sports.

"I have nothing against her, I don't know what her capabilities are, and I hope she does her job well, but in theory she is a person that doesn't know men's tennis, because men's tennis isn't the same as women's tennis. The truth is that the men's game isn't the same as the women's game on the tactical level, not that one is better than the other."

Instead of Gala, Toni said he would have preferred to see the job go to an experienced men's tennis player.

"It would seem to be more normal if the captain had been someone like Juan Carlos Ferrero, or some ex-player of a certain level, which is what has happened recently," he told the radio show.

When asked about Toni Nadal's comments, Leon declined to comment.

"I am not going to talk about the controversy now," Leon told the Associated Press.

Not all members of the tennis world share Toni Nadal's point of view, however. Britain's two-time grand slam champion Andy Murray, who hired former French player Amélie Mauresmo as his coach earlier this year, tweeted his support of the decision on Sunday.

"Congrats to Gala León Garcia for becoming first female Spanish Davis Cup captain today," she said. "Hopefully first of many."