Rafa Nadal has said goodbye to tennis after twenty-two years as a professional and having established himself as one of the best athletes in history. Legend in tennis who, in addition to meeting opponents at his height, bidding for the throne with opponents who will also be part of the sporting Olympus, had to deal, seriously and frequently, with the injuries that were so present during his career.
His farewell in Malaga, in the Davis Cup, at the Martín Carpena Sports Palace was not the best, and one of the very few stains that Nadal has had in his career, perhaps the only one, has been not knowing how to stop, not They know how to leave. Injuries appeared more frequently than usual in 2022but he overcame and, unexpectedly, won his last two Grand Slams. At the Australian Open, in that epic match against the Russian Daniil Medvedev in which he had to overcome two sets of disadvantage, and Roland Garros later, the fourteenth in Paris. That was the beginning of the end, which Nadal did not know or did not want to see.
In 2023 the physical problems got worse. He played the Australian Open, defeated by the American Mackenzie McDonald, already hampered by an ailment in the iliopsoas of his left leg and for which he ended up undergoing surgery months later. His presence on social networks became common to announce his withdrawal from each upcoming tournament. Until in May, at a press conference, he announced an indefinite break until he recovered. He didn’t return until almost a year after that Australia game.
Since the beginning of the year, each match was assumed to be the last, each match being a celebration and each defeat a tribute. In Barcelona, where he returned, he fell in the second round; while in the Madrid Masters 1000 he was eliminated in the round of 16 against the Czech Jiri Lehecka. Not even the earth, the clay, to which he gave so much, corresponded to Rafa’s wishes.who seemed to resist seeing what everyone else saw.
. He arrived at said event with the Bastad final in his backpack, after falling in the duel for the title against the Portuguese Nuno Borges, and the Olympic event was no better. The great expectation that it generated in Paris, at the Suzanne Lenglet, had flavor to farewell In the individual draw he beat Hungarian Marlon Fucsovics but later lost against Djokovic. And in doubles, the effect with Carlos Alcaraz stagnated in the quarterfinals, on the verge of the fight for the medals. Some months after that, Nadal announced with a video that he was leavingwhich was running out, but he did it again by stretching out a piece of gum that had been tasteless for a long time and that he was chewing too much. He went to the Davis Cup, played and lost, again hampered by an injury. In Malaga, at the Martín Carpena, he could no longer do more, in a farewell that has not lived up to the legend. Without any world professional colleague, as happened at Roger Federer’s farewell, only supported by the Spanish Davis team and with a video where athletes came out with a message. If he had left on time, when it was his turn, perhaps the farewell would have been better, in keeping with the athlete that he is, or rather, that he has been. In any case, this sad ending will not tarnish two decades of success.
