ANPNadal at the Paris Olympics
NOS Sport•today, 11:37•Changed today, 12:44
Rafael Nadal has announced that he will retire from tennis at the end of next month. The 38-year-old Spaniard announced this in a video on his social media channels.
He will be in action for the last time at the Davis Cup Finals in Málaga. On November 19, Nadal will face the Netherlands with Spain in the quarter-finals. The final of the country tournament will be played on November 24.
Nadal won no fewer than 22 Grand Slam tournaments. In total he won 92 tournament victories and was ranked first in the world for 204 weeks. At the Olympic Games he won gold in singles (2008) and with Marc López also in doubles (2016).
With Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, Nadal has dominated global tennis for the past two decades.
‘Right moment’
In recent years, the Mallorca man has been plagued by injuries. He has fallen to 158th place in the world rankings. “The last few years have been tough, especially the past two seasons,” he says in a video message. “It was a difficult decision, but I think this is the right time to stop.”
Nadal announces end of tennis career: ‘This is a good time to stop’
This summer, Nadal was at the Olympic Games in Paris. He was eliminated early in the singles by Novak Djokovic, but impressed in the doubles with his young compatriot Carlos Alcaraz. Renamed ‘Nadalcaraz’, the duo failed in the quarter-finals.
In Paris, Nadal was already asked whether he was in his last season. “Maybe in a month and a half I will say: enough is enough,” he said at the time. “I don’t want to say that yet, but of course there is a good chance. I still enjoy the sport too much and want to share this process with my family. Secondly, I travel with my family and they enjoy it. I think it’s beautiful to experience this process with them.”
After the Games, Nadal suffered another injury and had to withdraw from the US Open.
Nadal forever the clay king? ‘Nobody is going to win Roland Garros that often anymore’
Nadal was the undisputed king of clay. In 2005, as a 19-year-old, he won Roland Garros for the first time, the most important tournament on that surface. In total, he won the Grand Slam tournament in Paris fourteen times.
The Spaniard won 112 games at Roland Garros and only lost his fourth match last May, when he fell in the first round against the German Alexander Zverev. Nadal already said goodbye to the tournament. “If it was the last time, I enjoyed it immensely. The feelings I have today are difficult to put into words. This is the place I love the most.”
Mesker: ‘Only became heavier for Nadal’
Tennis commentator from NOS Marcella Mesker actually saw Rafael Nadal’s decision to retire coming, she tells NPO Radio 1. “He has continued to bounce back in recent years after physical problems. But now Nadal is 38 and is 158th in the rankings. world ranking. Then you no longer automatically qualify for tournaments and it only becomes more difficult.”
Mesker sees the forty meetings between Nadal and Roger Federer as the pinnacle of modern tennis history. “The rivalry between the two was beautiful. The Wimbledon final of Nadal against Federer in 2008 was a match of extremely high level, it immediately stands out. That was a five-setter that went in all directions. That was so exciting and so unique .”
