Tennis icon Rafael Nadal: end of career with moving farewell

Rafael Nadal closes his extraordinary tennis chapter. The Spaniard announced this in a moving message.

Madrid – Over, over, over: Rafael Nadel draws a final line in the sand. The clay court king announced the end of his extremely successful tennis career on Thursday, October 10th. But: There is still one last dance to do.

Rafael Nadal ended his tennis career: but there is still one last dance to do

“He is very happy that the final round of the Davis Cup from November 19th to 24th in Malaga will be his last tournament,” said Nadal. There the 38-year-old will compete again for his Spanish homeland, as he explains in a video that he shares on his social networks.

Nadal, alongside Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, is considered the most outstanding tennis player since the turn of the millennium. He has won 22 Grand Slam titles, only Djokovic (24) has more.

Rafael Nadal has said goodbye to the big tennis stage

In that video, Nadal looks back on his career with emotional words and has tears in his eyes. He also writes “thank you all very much” in different languages.

“The reality is that the last two years have been very difficult. “I don’t think I’ve been able to play without restrictions,” Nadal said. The injury-plagued clay court king, who set numerous tennis records with his 14 victories at the French Open, among other things, leaves as one of the greatest in his sport. Nadal had already announced in May of the previous year that he wanted to end his glorious career in 2024. However, he added: “I can’t say 100 percent because you never know what will happen.”

Roger Federer played a role in Rafael Nadal’s retirement

His former long-term rival Federer, who retired in 2022, recently encouraged Nadal to take this step. “Time eats away at you. In the end, it might be helpful to make a decision at some point. And then, when it’s over, you just relax again and say: Oh, luckily no training, luckily no more matches,” said the Swiss German press agencyI am on the sidelines of the Laver Cup in Berlin, which he helped initiate. Nadal had to cancel participation in the team competition.

Nadal had previously not competed in the Grand Slam tournaments US Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open for fitness reasons. Nadal made his last appearance on the Grand Slam stage in May at the French Open, when he lost to German tennis star Alexander Zverev in three sets in the first round. (akl/dpa)