Rafael Nadal has confirmed that he will retire from tennis after retiring from the Davis Cup Final in Malaga, Spain in November this year.
The reality is that these have been difficult years, especially the last two. I don't think I would be able to play without restrictions,” the 38-year-old said in a video posted on Thursday, October 10.
“It's obviously a difficult decision and it took me some time to make. But in this life everything has a beginning and an end.”
Nadal won his first professional match at the age of 15 at the Challenger tournament in Seville and went on to win 22 Grand Slam titles, including 14 French Opens. He will finish his career with a 112-4 record at Roland Garros, where he achieved success after losing his last Grand Slam match to Alexander Zverev earlier this year.
In 2008, he ended Roger Federer's streak of five Wimbledon titles in a final that lasted 4 hours and 48 minutes, the first change in the 15-year rivalry between the two players at the top of the men's game. Along with Novak Djokovic, Nadal and Federer formed the “Big Three”, winning 66 Grand Slam titles to date. Federer retired in 2022 at the age of 41, but Djokovic is still an active player.
While the 2008 Wimbledon final is regularly hailed as one of the greatest matches of all time, the 5-hour-53-minute 2012 Australian Open final, which Djokovic won in five sets, and their 2009 semi-final meeting in Madrid, which Nadal won in three, stand at least next to him.
Together with these two, Nadal will retire from tennis as one of the greatest players of all time.
“I feel incredibly, very lucky considering all the things I've experienced. I want to thank the tennis industry and all people associated with the sport: my long-time colleagues and especially my great rivals,” added the Spaniard.
“I think it's the right time to end a career that has been long and much more successful than I ever could have imagined.”
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Nadal won his last Grand Slam title at the 2022 French Open, playing mainly on one leg after having his left leg numbed with injections to compete. He then suffered an abdominal tear at Wimbledon 2022 and another injury at the Australian Open 2023. His last singles appearance came at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he lost in a lopsided straight-sets defeat to Djokovic, who went on to win Olympic gold. Nadal won his own singles gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
He is expected to play compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, who at the age of 21 is already a four-time Grand Slam champion, in the Davis Cup.
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Nadal's announcement of his retirement is not a huge surprise, but it still causes shock.
Men's tennis without Nadal doesn't seem right. For almost 20 years, he was a dominant, unique figure in the sport – a one-of-a-kind figure whose reputation and adoration extend far beyond tennis. You only have to look at the emotions expressed by sports figures, especially in football, and especially in Spain, to see its global impact.
It wasn't just about what he achieved on the court, but how he achieved it. Somehow, part raging bull, part impeccably bred athlete, he first changed the perception of clay-court players and then obliterated them.
He was still initially perceived as such when he won the French Open in 2005, but he produced one of the greatest multi-court games in the history of the sport, winning 22 Grand Slam titles, becoming one of the best volleyers in the men's game towards the end of his career. In addition to these 14 French Open titles, he won two Wimbledon titles, two Australian Open titles and four US Open titles.
His rivalry with Roger Federer defined tennis in the 2000s and brought the sport to a wider audience than ever before. The 2008 Wimbledon final, won by Nadal, is considered by many to be the greatest match in history, but his 2012 Australian Open final against Novak Djokovic and their three ATP clay-court meetings in 2009 (in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome) stand up too among many others.
The 2008 Wimbledon final was the moment Rafael Nadal emerged as an existential threat to Roger Federer. (Lewis Whyld/Pool via Getty Images)
To many, Nadal is the greatest player and athlete to ever play the men's game, possessing certainly the fiercest and most effective forehand the sport has ever seen.
The nature of sports is such that the stars are always changing and of course, rationally, we knew this day would always have to come. And yet Nadal felt immortal, able to withstand constant serious injuries to return to the top of the sport once again, winning one of its biggest prizes, the 2022 French Open, with one functional leg.
At the age of 38, he has dealt with one too many injuries and it's time to say goodbye. But the legacy he left will never be forgotten.
(Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images)
