22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal will retire from tennis after next month's Davis Cup finals
Rafael Nadal is retiring from professional tennis at age 38 after winning 22 Grand Slam titles — 14 at the French Open — during an unprecedented era he shared with rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic
MADRID (AP) — Rafael Nadal is retiring from professional tennis at age 38, he announced Thursday, after winning 22 Grand Slam titles — 14 at the French Open — during an unprecedented era he shared with rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Nadal has competed infrequently the past two seasons because of injuries and said next month’s Davis Cup finals will mark his farewell to the sport. He had hip surgery in 2023 and entered just two of the past eight major tournaments.
“The reality is that it has been some difficult years, these last two, especially. I don’t think I have been able to play without limitations,” Nadal said in a video message. “It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make. But in this life, everything has a beginning and an end.”
Nadal’s unrelenting, physical style of play — every point pursued as though it were his last, sprinting and sliding into place for that high-bouncing bullwhip of a lefty forehand — made him one of the greats of the game and the unquestioned King of Clay.
