The Spaniard Rafael Nadal, one of the most successful players in the history of tennis, winner of 22 Grand Slam tournaments, announced on Thursday, October 10, on Instagram his retirement from sports after the Davis Cup final.
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The Spanish legend of tennis Rafael Nadal, winner of 22 Grand Slam titles, announced Thursday that he would end his career after the Davis Cup final with Spain, scheduled for November 19-24 in Malaga.
“ I am here to tell you that I am leaving professional tennis… In life, everything has a beginning and an end and I think the time has come to end my career, which has been long and much more successful more success than I could have imagined “, declared the 38-year-old player in a video posted on his Instagram account.
Referring to his great physical difficulties over the last two years, he nevertheless clarified that he would still compete in one last competition, namely the Davis Cup final scheduled for Malaga. “ I am very excited that my last tournament will be the Davis Cup Final, and to represent my country there “, indicated the Majorcan. “ I think it’s a way of coming full circle when one of my first great joys as a professional player was the final » of this competition, won in 2004 in Seville, he added.
Winner of Roland-Garros 14 times
Over the past two decades, the Spaniard has dominated world tennis with his two great rivals, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, totaling 66 Grand Slam titles between them. Rafael Nadal is especially the absolute master on clay, winning Roland-Garros 14 times. If he had declined a tribute after his early elimination during the 2024 edition in the spring, the Spaniard had been selected among the last flame bearers during the Paris Olympics ceremony on July 26, testimony to his Porte d aura. ‘Auteuil, where his statue already sits.
Of the legendary trio, he is the second to retire after Roger Federer in 2022, at age 41. The Swiss’ last match in the Laver Cup in London saw the two players, accomplices, in tears, side by side.
Only Novak Djokovic, 37, remains, who holds the greatest number of Grand Slam titles (24). The Serbian, however, in turn experienced a delicate year in 2024, marked by physical problems, not winning any Major in the face of the rise in power of the young guard, the Italian Jannik Sinner and the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. Olympic champion in Paris, he nevertheless still occupies 4th place in the world and is currently competing in the Masters 1000 in Shanghai.