Multiple Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal announces his retirement

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal announced that he has decided to end his professional career.

The 38-year-old Spaniard played his last match to date on July 31. Then he, paired with Carlos Alcaraz, lost in the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games in Paris.

— I’m leaving professional tennis. The last two years have been difficult and I haven’t been able to play without restrictions. This is a difficult decision, it took me a while to make it, but in this life everything has a beginning and an end. Now is the time to end a long and much more successful career than I could have ever imagined.

I am very glad that my last tournament will be the Davis Cup final, where I will represent my country. It comes full circle because one of my first great joys as a professional tennis player was the final in Seville in 2004,” Nadal said in a video posted on his social media account.

The Davis Cup Final Eight will take place in Malaga from November 19 to 24.

Nadal led the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings for a total of 209 weeks and has 92 titles under the organization’s auspices. Nadal won the Grand Slam tournaments 22 times and the Davis Cup five times. He has two Olympic golds to his name – in singles and doubles.

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