In all languages, from Spanish to Chinese, German, English, French (Thank you all very much), to say thank you, Rafael Nadal announces his upcoming retirement in a video posted this Thursday.
He announces this news, expected by many, feared by some, on X in a four-minute message.
“Hello everyone. I am here to let you know that I am retiring from professional tennis. The reality is that the last two years have been difficult. I don’t think I can play anymore. It’s obviously a difficult decision that took me a long time, says the Spaniard in his message with the greatest moments of his immense career as a backdrop. But, in this life, everything has a beginning and an end and I think this is the right time to put an end to a career that has been long and more successful than I ever imagined.
Nadal will end his career after the Davis Cup final phase, in Malaga, with Spain (November 19-24). A few hours after the announcement of Richard Gasquet’s withdrawal after the next Roland-Garros, the history of tennis at the start of the 21st century is spinning.
During his career which lasted more than two decades, the Spaniard won 22 Grand Slam titles. He triumphed 14 times at <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/01/australian-open-2022-novak-djokovic-case-live-australia-continues-to-extend-the-decision-on-the-deportation-of-the-serbian/" title="Australian Open 2022: Novak Djokovic case, live: Australia continues to extend the decision on the deportation of the Serbian”>Roland Garros, beating the king of clay and Paris more generally. He has a statue of him at the entrance to the stadium, a rare privilege. He also triumphed twice at the Australian Open, twice at Wimbledon and four times at the US Open, becoming with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic depending on each person’s preferences, the greatest tennis player of all time. To this gargantuan list of achievements, we can add 5 Davis Cups with Spain and an Olympic gold medal in Beijing for a total of 92 trophies lifted during his career. With an obvious preference for clay on which he reigned to win 63 tournaments on this surface.
But he said it, the time had come to put an end to this fantastic epic. For months, the Spaniard’s body was no longer following his desire to play. Over the last two years and since his final triumph at Roland-Garros in 2022, he has only played 23 matches, attempting a final comeback. back to his Parisian kingdom for Paris 2024. “I am very excited to announce that my last appearance will be in the Davis Cup final to represent my country. I came full circle with my first big memory, which was the Davis Cup final in Seville in 2004. I feel very, very lucky to have experienced all that. I want to thank the entire tennis industry, all the people involved in this sport. My long-time colleagues, and especially my biggest rivals. I spent so many hours with them and I experienced so many moments that I will remember for the rest of my life,” he said in his message.
