Why is Nadal retiring?

Nadal has been hampered by injuries in recent years, and on Thursday announced that this would be his final year playing the sport.

Rafael Nadal, 38, has been privy to a career that has seen him win 22 Grand Slams, including 14 French Open.

Nadal is scheduled to play for Spain in the Davis Cup against the Netherlands in Malaga from November 19 to 21.

This is likely to be his final act on the tennis court, in a sport where he stood as a giant alongside peers/rivals Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray as four modern greats in the game.

In a video statement posted on social media, Nadal announced that he is retiring from professional tennis.

He said that the last two years have been tough, as he claimed he has been able to play what he said was without limitations.

Claiming it to be a difficult decision, which he had to make one day he said in this life, everything has a beginning and an end. And he believed it was the right time to bring an end to a career that had been long and far more successful than he had ever expected.

Nadal went professional in 2001 and in his first attempt won the 2005 French Open.

Since then, he established remarkable dominance on clay, winning 14 tournaments in 18 years at Roland Garros from 2005 to 2008, 2014, 2017 to 2020, and finally in 2022.

He also triumphed at the Australian Open in 2009 and 2022, Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010, and the US Open in 2010, 2013, 2017, and 2019.

Federer paid rich tribute to Nadal in a post on Instagram: “What a career, Rafa,” he wrote.

He expressed that he had always hoped this day would never arrive, and thanked the person for the unforgettable memories and their incredible achievements in the sport he both cherished.

“It’s been an absolute honour!”