Tennis' ultimate warrior will wage his last battle next month.
Rafael Nadal officially announced his retirement from tennis today at age 38 closing the curtain on one of the most glorious and impactful careers in Open Era history. Nadal competed with grit and grace and said good-bye with gratitude thanking family, friends, fans in a video posted to his social media platforms.
Though Nadal's competitive spirit is willing, his body says it's time for farewell.
“It has been some difficult years, these last two especially,” Nadal said in a video announcement. "I don't think I've been able to play without limitations.
"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, and I think it’s the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined."
The king of clay captured a record 14 Roland Garros championships and is one of a handful of elite champions to complete the career Golden Slam, winning all four Grand Slam championships, plus the Olympic gold medal in both singles and doubles.
One of the most beloved champions in Open Era history, Nadal was the humble warrior.
Sporting sleeveless shirts and pirate pants when he initially burst onto the scene, Nadal looked like a tennis Tarzan and swooped around the court exerting energy and electrifying fans with crackling running forehand strikes.
A natural right hander who initially played with two hands off both wings, like Monica Seles, Nadal instinctively unleashed his first lefty forehand after his original coach and uncle, Toni Nadal, told him there were no Top 10-ranked men playing with two hands off both things "and you will not be the first."
A charismatic champion who turned a generation of fans onto tennis, drew former fans back to the sport and produced epic matches that were passion plays, Nadal inspired the famed "Vamos Rafa!" chant from crowds all over the world.
Fittingly, the 22-time Grand Slam champion will make his final appearance before home fans in Malaga, Spain at next month's Davis Cup Final 8.
"I think it's the right time to put an end to a long career and much more successful than I ever expected it would be," Nadal said.
Last month, Spanish captain David Ferrer named Carlos Alcaraz, Roberto Bautista Agut, Pablo Carreño Busta, Marcel Granollers and Nadal to the squad for the Davis Cup Final 8 set for November 19-24 at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena Arena in Malaga, Spain.
Captain Ferrer said Nadal is already training for the Davis Cup Final 8 and plans to play the 6 Kings Slam exhibition in Saudi Arabia next month as part of his Davis Cup preparation.
"I'm very excited to have Rafa and I'm very proud of this team and what we've achieved so far. Hopefully we can give great joy in Malaga," Ferrer said. "There are still two months left, but his idea is to be in the exhibition in Saudi Arabia, he is preparing for it. He is already training on the court and that is important.
"It is possible that he will play something else, but as of today his schedule is to play the exhibition, in which he will have to be well prepared because the level will be very high. If Rafa tells me that he wants to be in Malaga, I know that he will be fine because he is very honest."
A dominant Davis Cup player, Nadal owns a 29-1 Davis Cup singles record with his lone loss coming to Czechia's Jiri Novak in his very first Davis Cup tie back in 2004.
At a clinic Rafael Nadal's uncle and original coach, Toni Nadal, conducted at the Rafa Nadal Tennis Centre in Costa Mujeres, Mexico in 2020, Uncle Toni told Tennis Now there are two essential elements to his nephew's phenomenal success: Rafa's inspired competitive character and his insatiable work ethic.
“When you lose, there’s only one way to go and that’s train harder," Uncle Toni told Tennis Now. "I was lucky enough to train a guy who was excited every single day for practice as he was before a final.”
Rafael Nadal's Retirement Statement
“Hello everyone, I’m here to let you know that I am retiring from professional tennis. 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. 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, and I think it’s the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined.
“But I am very excited that my last tournament will be the final of the Davis Cup and representing my country. I think I’ve come full circle, since one of my first great joys as a professional tennis player was the Davis Cup final in Seville in 2004.
“I feel super, super lucky for all the things I’ve been able to experience. I want to thank the entire tennis industry, all the people involved in this sport: my long-time colleagues, especially my great rivals. I have spent many, many hours with them, and I have lived many moments that I will remember for the rest of my life.
“Talking about my team is a little bit more difficult for me, because in the end my team has been a very important part of my life. They are not just my co-workers, they are my friends. They have been by my side at all the times I have really needed them. Very bad moments, very good moments, moments when I had to be pushed, moments they gave me more slack. We have lived so much together that it is hard to explain.
"My family is everything to me. My mother: I think she has made all the sacrifices she had to make so that we would always have everything. “My wife Mery: we’ve been together for 19 years. Thank you for everything you have done. I think you’ve been the perfect travel companion during all these years of career.
“To come home and see how my son is growing every day has been a force that has really kept me alive and with the necessary energy to continue.
“My sister, I think we have always had an incredible relationship. My uncle [Toni], who is the reason I started playing tennis. I believe that thanks to him, I have also been able to overcome many situations that have been difficult in my sporting career.
“And to my father, who I believe has been a source of inspiration for me in every sense of the word. I think he has been an example of effort, of overcoming. Many, many thanks to my father in a very, very special way.
“And finally, you, the fans. I can’t thank you enough for what you have made me feel. You have given me the energy I have needed at every moment. Really, everything I have experienced has been a dream come true. “I leave with the absolute peace of mind of having given my best, of having made an effort in every way. I can only end by saying a thousand thanks to all and see you soon.”