RAFAEL NADAL ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

Rafael Nadal, one of the greatest tennis players in history, announced his retirement after the upcoming Davis Cup Finals in November 2024.

The 22-time Grand Slam cham­pi­on, known for his record 14 French Open titles, has bat­tled injuries in recent years, with a hip surgery lim­it­ing his play in 2023. Nadal’s sur­prise inclu­sion in Spain’s Davis Cup team, from Nov. 19–24, will be his final tour­na­ment, bring­ing an end to his illus­tri­ous career.

“I’m here to announce my retire­ment from pro­fes­sion­al ten­nis,” Nadal shared in an emo­tion­al video on social media. “The last few years have been tough, and I haven’t been able to play with­out lim­i­ta­tions. It’s time to close a chap­ter that’s been more suc­cess­ful than I ever imag­ined.”

Nadal has amassed an unpar­al­leled career, win­ning titles at every Grand Slam, Olympic gold, and four Davis Cup cham­pi­onships. Fin­ish­ing his jour­ney rep­re­sent­ing Spain at the Davis Cup feels like a fit­ting end for Nadal, who won his first major title with the team in 2004.

Despite injuries that have plagued him, Nadal’s lega­cy, espe­cial­ly on the clay courts of Roland Gar­ros, is untouch­able. With a stag­ger­ing 112–4 win-loss record at the French Open, Nadal earned the title “King of Clay.”

As he pre­pares to step away from the sport, Nadal thanked his fam­i­ly, his team, and his fans, say­ing, “I leave with peace, know­ing I’ve giv­en my best.”

Nadal’s depar­ture leaves Novak Djokovic as the last active mem­ber of the leg­endary “Big Three,” fol­low­ing Roger Fed­er­er’s retire­ment two years ago.