Rafael Nadal announces his retirement from tennis : NPR

MADRID — Rafael Nadal is retiring from skilled tennis at age 38, he introduced in a video message Thursday, after successful 22 Grand Slam titles — 14 on the French Open — throughout an unprecedented period he shared with rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Nadal has competed sometimes the previous two seasons due to accidents and stated subsequent month’s Davis Cup finals will mark his farewell to the game. He had hip surgical procedure in 2023 and entered simply two of the previous eight main tournaments.

“The truth is that it has been some troublesome years, these final two, particularly. I don’t assume I’ve been in a position to play with out limitations,” Nadal stated. “It’s clearly a troublesome choice, one which has taken me a while to make. However on this life, all the things has a starting and an finish.”

Nadal’s unrelenting, bodily fashion of play — each level pursued as if it had been his final, sprinting and sliding into place for that high-bouncing bullwhip of a lefty forehand — made him one of many greats of the sport and the unquestioned King of Clay, the gradual, pink floor on which he dominated.

His document 14 French Open championships are greater than anybody, man or lady, gained at any one of many sport’s 4 main tournaments, a dominance celebrated by a statue of Nadal that stands close to the principle entrance to the grounds of Roland Garros and within the shadow of its most important stadium, Court docket Philippe Chatrier.

In a consequence that symbolized the place issues stood for his physique, and profession, he exited within the French Open’s first spherical this yr, a straight-set loss to eventual runner-up Alexander Zverev.

Nadal returned to that web site in southwest Paris for the Summer time Olympics, the place he misplaced to previous rival Djokovic within the second spherical of singles and reached the quarterfinals of males’s doubles with Carlos Alcaraz.

Nadal hasn’t performed since. His goodbye may even come whereas representing Spain, at Malaga within the Davis Cup.

Along with his French Open triumphs, he gained 4 trophies on the U.S. Open and two apiece at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, giving him a profession Grand Slam.

A profession that’s “extra profitable than I may have ever imagined”

“I believe it’s the acceptable time to place an finish to a profession that has been lengthy and way more profitable than I may have ever imagined,” Nadal stated.

His final pair of main titles arrived in 2022, at Melbourne in January and at Paris in June, pushing him forward of Federer, who held the boys’s document of 20 Grand Slam titles when he introduced his retirement at age 41. Federer bid adieu in late 2022 by teaming with Nadal in a doubles match on the Laver Cup.

Each have since been surpassed by Djokovic, 37, who’s as much as 24 majors.

A lot of Nadal’s success was seen, pretty or not, via the prism of his encounters with Federer and Djokovic. The tennis world, and lots outdoors of it, had been consumed with the controversy over which was most deserving of the “GOAT” — “Best Of All-Time” — moniker. The world, tennis or in any other case, was fascinated by their matchups, their differing kinds and personalities.

Who amongst those that witnessed it may probably overlook Nadal vs. Federer within the 2008 Wimbledon remaining? Or Nadal vs. Djokovic within the 2022 French Open quarterfinals? Or Nadal vs. Djokovic within the 2012 Australian Open remaining? And so forth.

Nadal performed Djokovic 60 instances, a document for 2 males within the Open period; Djokovic leads 31-29 general, whereas Nadal leads 5-4 in Slam finals. Nadal met Federer 40 instances; Nadal leads 24-16 general, together with 6-3 in Slam finals.

“Thanks for the unforgettable reminiscences and all of your unimaginable achievements within the sport we love,” Federer advised Nadal by way of social media.

It’s actually apt that Nadal’s final main title got here on the French Open (beating Djokovic alongside the way in which) two years in the past, and whereas getting painkilling injections for persistent ache in his left foot. He repeatedly handled, and often overcame, numerous harm points over time, and his 2023 and 2024 seasons had been each restricted due to hip and stomach muscle issues.

Nadal harm his hip flexor throughout a second-round loss on the Australian Open in January 2023, and wound up lacking the remainder of the yr; there was an operation for that in June.

After briefly making a comeback this January throughout a tuneup occasion for the Australian Open, he needed to pull out of the yr’s first main with a torn hip muscle, then was sidelined once more till a return on his beloved clay on the Barcelona Open in April.

Courting to late in 2022, when he was overwhelmed within the fourth spherical at Flushing Meadows by Frances Tiafoe, Nadal is simply 14-14, together with 12-7 this yr.

However his general resume is unimpeachable: a complete of 209 weeks at No. 1 within the ATP rankings and almost 18 years’ price of consecutive weeks within the Prime 10; 92 singles titles; 1,080-227 win-loss document; simply shy of $135 million in prize cash.

“Actually, all the things I’ve skilled has been a dream come true,” Nadal stated. “I go away with absolutely the peace of thoughts of getting given my greatest, of getting made an effort in each means.”