IT WAS hardly a surprise, but that did not make the news that Spanish champion Rafael Nadal will retire at year’s end any easier. The 38-year-old was recently named in Spain’s Davis Cup Finals side and yesterday the 22-time Grand Slam winner confirmed the Malaga event would be the last of his professional career.
In a fitting end to a man who has given everything not just to tennis fans, but to his country through his tennis, the former world number one will end his playing days in country colours on home soil between November 19-24.
Nadal won 92 ATP Tour titles and boasts the second most Grand Slams of any male player, which of course includes a record 14 Roland Garos trophies. That effort earned his nickname the ‘King of Clay’ and it is indisputable that he has been the world’s best ever claycourter.
In a video posted to social medal, Nadal announced his retirement in Spanish, letting his fans and followers know before the media.
“Hello everyone, I am here to let you know I am retiring from professional tennis,” he said. “The reality is it has been some difficult years, these last two especially. I don’t think I have been able to play without limitations.
“It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make, but in this life, everything has a beginning and an end, and I think it’s the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined.”
Nadal has only played the 19 matches on the ATP Tour this season, and will hope to contribute to Spain going deep in the Davis Cup Finals. The host nation side – which also includes Nadal’s heir apparent in world number two Carlos Alcaraz – will face Netherlands in the quarter finals on November 19.
“I am very excited that my last tournament will be the final of the Davis Cup and representing my country,” Nadal said. “I think I’ve come full circle since one of my first great joys as a professional tennis player was the Davis Cup final in Sevilla in 2004.
“I feel super, super lucky for all the things I’ve been able to experience.”
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