Rafael Nadal has announced his retirement from tennis aged 38 after an illustrious career in which he won 22 grand slams and cemented a legacy as one of the sport’s greatest stars.
The Spaniard’s final tournament will be the upcoming Davis Cup finals this November in Malaga, having not played since the Paris Olympics earlier this year.
Spain will face the Netherlands in the quarter-finals between 19 and 21 November – Nadal was added to the squad having not taken part in the group stage due to injury.
Across a remarkable 23-year senior career – having turned professional aged 14 in 2001 – Nadal won 14 French Open titles, four US Opens and two titles each at Wimbledon and the Australian Open.
He is widely considered the greatest player on clay ever and his long-running rivalry with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic is the stuff of sporting legend, with 66 grand slam titles between them.
In a video announcing his retirement, Nadal said: “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.
“I’m very excited that my last tournament will be the final of the Davis Cup, representing my country. I think I’ve come full circle since one of my first joys as a professional tennis player was the Davis Cup final in Seville in 2004.”
