Rafael Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam champion, will retire from tennis at the end of this season.
The 38-year-old will represent Spain in his final appearance at next month’s Davis Cup Finals in Malaga.
Nadal has barely featured in the past two seasons due to injuries and suggested last year that he could retire at the end of the 2024 season.
In a video message released on Thursday, Nadal said: “I am here to let you know that I am retiring from professional tennis.
“The reality is that it has been a difficult few years, especially the last two.
“I don’t think I was able to play without limitations.”
Nadal retires as the second most successful men’s singles player of all time, behind his old rival Novak Djokovic.
Dubbed the ‘King of Clay’, Nadal won the French Open singles title a record fourteen times and won 112 of his 116 major matches at Roland Garros.
No player has won as many Grand Slam titles at the same tournament.
Nadal is also a four-time US Open champion, having won both the Australian Open and Wimbledon twice.
He also won gold at the Olympic Games in singles and doubles and helped Spain to four Davis Cup titles, most recently in 2019.
Alongside his enduring rivals Djokovic and 20-time champion Roger Federer, Nadal formed the ‘Big Three’ who dominated the men’s game from the early 2000s and attracted legions of fans.
“What a career, Rafa! I always hoped this day would never come,” said Federer, who wept with Nadal as he retired in 2022.
“Thank you for the unforgettable memories and all your incredible achievements in the game we love.
“It was an absolute honor.”
Why has Nadal decided this is the right time?
When Nadal announced he would not play in the 2023 French Open, he said he planned to retire at the end of 2024 due to the series of injuries that were taking a toll on his body.
But after Nadal returned earlier this season, he became increasingly non-committal about his future.
The former world number one regularly said that he wanted to continue playing as long as his body allowed it.
Now, after an embarrassing defeat to old rival Djokovic at the Paris Olympics in July, he has decided the time is right.
“It is obviously a difficult decision, which took me some time.
“But in this life everything has a beginning and an end.”
After returning to competitive action in Brisbane in January, Nadal was again sidelined with a thigh injury, causing him to miss the Australian Open.
Nadal played four tournaments during the European clay-court season, culminating in a first-round defeat at the French Open.
Since then he has only played two tournaments: in Bastad and the Olympic Games at Roland Garros.
Last month he was part of the Spanish selection for the Davis Cup Finals, which will take place from November 19 to 24.
“I think this is the right time to end a career that has been long and much more successful than I could ever have imagined,” Nadal said.
“I am very excited that my last tournament will be the Davis Cup final and will represent my country.”
From Mallorcan child to the King of Clay
Nadal was three years old when he was introduced to tennis by his uncle Toni, who encouraged him to switch to playing left-handed after seeing how strongly he could hit the ball.
He turned professional at the age of 15 and three years later helped Spain win the 2004 Davis Cup when they defeated the United States, with Nadal beating world number two Andy Roddick.
The following year he began his dominance at the French Open, defeating Argentina’s Mariano Puerta in the final.
Nadal’s five-set victory over Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final – an epic that lasted twelve minutes less than five hours – is considered one of the greatest matches in history and one of the highlights of their fifteen-year rivalry.
In between those two finals, he won the 2009 Australian Open for the first time with another five-set win over Federer, and completed the career Grand Slam at the 2010 US Open.
Although he won all four majors, Nadal will forever be synonymous with the French Open, where a metal statue of him hitting his trademark forehand was built in 2021.
From 2005 to 2014, he won nine of ten Roland Garros titles and then five of six between 2017 and 2022.
In fourteen final appearances he has never been taken to five sets, beating Federer in four finals and Djokovic three times.
Of his four losses at the French Open, Djokovic defeated him twice this year with Alexander Zverev and Robin Soderling in 2009 with the other two men, toppling him.
Appropriately enough, his last major title came at the French Open in 2022, two days after his 36th birthday.
Rafa’s honors list
22 Grand Slam singles titles
Australian Open: 2 (2009, 2022)
French Open: 14 (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022)
Wimbledon: 2 (2008, 2010)
US Open: 4 (2010, 2013, 2017, 2019)
2 Olympic gold medals
Singles: 2008; Doubles: 2016
4 Davis Cups
2004, 2009, 2011, 2019
92 ATP Tour titles
209 weeks as number one in the world
More to follow.
