Nadal has announced he will retire after the Davis Cup finals in November, to be held in Malaga. The Spaniard, who has won 22 Grand Slams, has been out of action for large parts of the last two years through injury.

Rafael Nadal said on Thursday he is to retire from playing professional tennis after the upcoming Davis Cup finals in Malaga.

“Hello everyone, I am here to let you know I am retiring from professional tennis,” he said in a social media post.

“The reality is, that it has been some difficult years, these last two especially,” he said in reference to a series of injuries that have prevented him from playing for much of the last 24 months.

“I don’t think I have been able to play without limitations. It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make,” he continued in a video clip.

Despite vast amounts of success on the court, including 22 major titles and a record 14 French Opens, Nadal has had an injury-hit career.

The final spiral of injuries began at Wimbledon 2022, with an abdominal issue that saw him withdraw from the tournament ahead of his semi-final with Nick Kyrgios.

But the main issue was a left hip injury, incurred at the 2023 Australian Open, that ruled him out of the sport for 12 months.

Nadal’s legacy
Despite the injuries, Nadal’s legacy as one of the all-time greats is secure, not least because of the record-breaking 14 French Open titles, a feat unlikely to ever be matched or beaten.

In addition to those 14 titles picked up on the Parisian clay at Roland Garros, Nadal also won four US Opens, two Australian Opens and two Wimbledon titles, the first of which was won in 2008 after a five-set win in the final over Roger Federer in a match often talked about as being the greatest tennis player of all time.

But it was on the dirt where he earned the nickname the King of Clay, due to his imperious form on the surface.

The Big Three
A part of the Nadal legacy also comes in the form of his two arch rivals — Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

During the first part of his career it was the Swiss, particularly in the wake of that 2008 Wimbledon final, who was Nadal’s biggest rival. Nadal holds a 24-16 head to head advantage over Federer, that began as a fierce rivalry but ended in a warm friendship.

However, in the second half of Nadal’s career, it was Djokovic who emerged as Nadal’s greatest rival, particularly in recent years as the light faded on Federer’s career.

Credit: DW News