Rafael Nadal calls time on epic tennis career

Rafael Nadal announced on Thursday that he will retire from professional tennis after the Davis Cup finals in November, concluding a legendary career that saw him win 22 Grand Slam titles and become one of the sport’s most respected players. Known for his fierce rivalries with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, Nadal said in a video on social media that recent years have been difficult for him, making it a tough decision to retire.

“It’s a hard decision, but everything has a beginning and an end,” said Nadal. He expressed his excitement to finish his career at the Davis Cup finals, where he hopes to lead Spain to a fifth victory in the tournament.

Nadal, who first won the Davis Cup as a teenager in 2004, has been named to the Spain team alongside Carlos Alcaraz for the finals in Malaga. “It feels like I’ve come full circle,” he said.

Nadal’s career has been marked by his dominance on the clay courts of the French Open, where he claimed 14 titles, including his first in 2005 just after his 19th birthday. His last French Open title in 2022 briefly made him the tournament’s oldest champion before Novak Djokovic broke that record a year later.

In addition to his French Open successes, Nadal won the US Open four times, the Australian Open twice, and Wimbledon twice. His epic five-set win over Roger Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final, which ended in near-darkness, is considered one of the greatest matches in tennis history.

Nadal also completed a career Golden Slam by winning Olympic gold in 2008. He was ranked world number one five times at year-end, spending a total of 209 weeks in the top spot. Remarkably, he stayed in the top 10 rankings from 2005 until March of last year and won at least one title every year from 2004 to 2022.