Rafael Nadal is ending. The tennis star ends his career at the age of 38. The Spaniard said he had put off making this decision for a long time, but now it was time. He announces his last match in an emotional video.
Tennis star Rafael Nadal ends his exceptional career. He will play his last tournament at the Davis Cup finals in November, as the 38-year-old Spaniard announced in an emotional video.
“I am here to inform you that I am retiring from professional tennis,” Nadal said in the short film, pointing out that his body is no longer cooperating. He repeatedly struggled with injuries: “It has been difficult for a few years, especially in the last two years. I was no longer able to play without restrictions.”
Nadal is one of the greatest players in tennis history. In total he won 22 Grand Slam titles. He is one of only eight players to win each of the world’s four most important tournaments at least once. But his name will remain primarily associated with the French Open in Paris. The left-hander triumphed there 14 times.
Davis Cup in Malaga as the final point
“I am very happy about all the things I was able to experience,” said Nadal. He deliberately chose the Davis Cup as the final point: “It’s exciting that my last tournament will be the final of the Davis Cup, where I will represent my country.”
The Davis Cup finals will be played in Nadal’s Spanish homeland from November 19th to 24th, with all games taking place in Malaga. Spain will face the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. Germany is also still in the competition and could face Nadal’s team in the semi-finals if they beat Canada.
Nadal was number one in the world rankings for a total of 209 weeks and collected more than 134 million euros in prize money alone. Together with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, he formed the “Big Three” that dominated men’s tennis for almost two decades.
Last Grand Slam appearance against Zverev
Djokovic is still active, Federer had already retired in 2022. The Swiss recently also advised Nadal to take this step. “Time eats away at you. In the end, it might be helpful to make a decision at some point,” Federer said about Nadal in September on the sidelines of the Laver Cup in Berlin.
Nadal had to cancel participation in the team competition. He had previously not competed in the Grand Slam tournaments US Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open for fitness reasons. Nadal’s powerful and intensive playing style increasingly took its toll. During his career, the Mallorcan was repeatedly set back by injuries. He was particularly troubled by Müller-Weiss syndrome, a rare disease in which bone tissue in the scaphoid bone of the foot skeleton dies.
At times he seemed to be exploiting his own body during his many comebacks. “My life and body have been sending me signals for a long time,” Nadal said in the spring. Nevertheless, he struggled back onto the court because he wanted to enjoy the game that he loves so much and that has given him so much one last time.
Nadal made his last appearance on the Grand Slam stage in May at his beloved French Open, when he lost to the German Alexander Zverev in three sets in the first round. Among the 15,000 spectators were not only his son Rafael junior and his wife Xisca Perelló, but also the tennis stars Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek. Nadal said afterwards that he was “happy” about it, “because it means that I have left a positive legacy.”
SUF
