22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal will retire from tennis after next month’s Davis Cup finals

By TALES AZZONI and HOWARD FENDRICH

MADRID — Rafael Nadal is retiring from nonrecreational tennis astatine property 38, helium announced successful a video connection Thursday, aft winning 22 Grand Slam titles — 14 astatine the French Open — during an unprecedented epoch helium shared with rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Nadal has competed infrequently the past 2 seasons due to the fact that of injuries and said adjacent month’s Davis Cup finals volition people his farewell to the sport. He had hep country successful 2023 and entered conscionable 2 of the past 8 large tournaments.

“The world is that it has been immoderate hard years, these past two, especially. I don’t deliberation I person been capable to play without limitations,” Nadal said. “It is evidently a hard decision, 1 that has taken maine immoderate clip to make. But successful this life, everything has a opening and an end.”

Nadal’s unrelenting, carnal benignant of play — each constituent pursued arsenic though it were his last, sprinting and sliding into spot for that high-bouncing bullwhip of a lefty forehand — made him 1 of the greats of the crippled and the unquestioned King of Clay, the slow, reddish aboveground connected which helium dominated.

His grounds 14 French Open championships are much than anyone, antheral oregon woman, won astatine immoderate 1 of the sport’s 4 large tournaments, a dominance celebrated by a statue of Nadal that stands adjacent the main entranceway to the grounds of Roland Garros and successful the shadiness of its main stadium, Court Philippe Chatrier.

In a effect that symbolized wherever things stood for his body, and career, helium exited successful the French Open’s archetypal circular this year, a straight-set nonaccomplishment to eventual runner-up Alexander Zverev.

Nadal returned to that tract successful southwest Paris for the Summer Olympics, wherever helium mislaid to aged rival Djokovic successful the 2nd circular of singles and reached the quarterfinals of men’s doubles with Carlos Alcaraz.

Nadal hasn’t played since. His goodbye volition besides travel portion representing Spain, astatine Malaga successful the Davis Cup.

In summation to his French Open triumphs, helium won 4 trophies astatine the U.S. Open and 2 apiece astatine Wimbledon and the Australian Open, giving him a vocation Grand Slam.

“I deliberation it is the due clip to enactment an extremity to a vocation that has been agelong and overmuch much palmy than I could person ever imagined,” Nadal said.

His past brace of large titles arrived successful 2022, astatine Melbourne successful January and astatine Paris successful June, pushing him up of Federer, who held the men’s grounds of 20 Grand Slam titles erstwhile helium announced his status astatine property 41. Federer bid adieu successful precocious 2022 by teaming with Nadal successful a doubles lucifer astatine the Laver Cup.

Both person since been surpassed by Djokovic, 37, who is up to 24 majors.

So overmuch of Nadal’s occurrence was seen, reasonably oregon not, done the prism of his encounters with Federer and Djokovic. The tennis world, and plentifulness extracurricular of it, were consumed with the statement implicit which was astir deserving of the “GOAT” — “Greatest Of All-Time” — moniker. The world, tennis oregon otherwise, was fascinated by their matchups, their differing styles and personalities.

Who among those who witnessed it could perchance hide Nadal vs. Federer successful the 2008 Wimbledon final? Or Nadal vs. Djokovic successful the 2022 French Open quarterfinals? Or Nadal vs. Djokovic successful the 2012 Australian Open final? And truthful on.

Nadal played Djokovic 60 times, a grounds for 2 men successful the Open era; Djokovic leads 31-29 overall, portion Nadal leads 5-4 successful Slam finals. Nadal met Federer 40 times; Nadal leads 24-16 overall, including 6-3 successful Slam finals.

“Thank you for the unforgettable memories and each your unthinkable achievements successful the crippled we love,” Federer told Nadal via societal media.

It’s surely apt that Nadal’s past large rubric came astatine the French Open (beating Djokovic on the way) 2 years ago, and portion getting painkilling injections for chronic symptom successful his near foot. He repeatedly dealt with, and often overcame, assorted wounded issues implicit the years, and his 2023 and 2024 seasons were some constricted due to the fact that of hep and abdominal musculus problems.

Nadal wounded his hep flexor during a second-round nonaccomplishment astatine the Australian Open successful January 2023, and coiled up missing the remainder of the year; determination was an cognition for that successful June.

After concisely making a comeback this January during a tuneup lawsuit for the Australian Open, helium had to propulsion retired of the year’s archetypal large with a torn hep muscle, past was sidelined again until a instrumentality connected his beloved clay astatine the Barcelona Open successful April.

Dating to precocious successful 2022, erstwhile helium was beaten successful the 4th circular astatine Flushing Meadows by Frances Tiafoe, Nadal is conscionable 14-14, including 12-7 this year.

But his wide resume is unimpeachable: a full of 209 weeks astatine No. 1 successful the ATP rankings and astir 18 years’ worthy of consecutive weeks successful the Top 10; 92 singles titles; 1,080-227 win-loss record; conscionable shy of $135 cardinal successful prize money.

“Really, everything I person experienced has been a imagination travel true,” Nadal said. “I permission with the implicit bid of caput of having fixed my best, of having made an effort successful each way.”

Fendrich reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press writers Joseph Wilson and James Ellingworth contributed to this report.