Rafael Nadal has announced his retirement from professional tennis, which will come after the Davis Cup in Málaga next month.
In a video message released on Thursday morning, Nadal said: “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 its 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 ever could have imagined.”
Nadal, 38, will go down in history as an essential part of the greatest era of men’s professional tennis – and unquestionably the ultimate master of clay courts.
His 14 French Open titles represent arguably the most mind-boggling feat in any individual sport, with an associated win-loss record of 112-4. There is a strong argument that when Nadal was in good condition, both physically and mentally, he was literally unbeatable at Roland Garros.
Nadal’s announcement could leave his Spanish Davis Cup captain, the former French Open finalist David Ferrer, with some difficult selection decisions to make in Málaga.
It seems questionable whether Nadal, at this stage of his career, would be a better bet for the No 2 singles spot behind Carlos Alcaraz than the likes of Roberto Bautista Agut or Roberto Carballés Baena.
And if Ferrer were to opt for Nadal in doubles, reprising the Nadal-Alcaraz alliance that thrilled Paris during the Olympic Games, he would have to omit the world’s top-ranked doubles player Marcel Granollers.
