22-time Grand Slam champ Nadal will retire after Davis Cup finals

MADRID (AP) — Tennis great Rafael Nadal announced his impending retirement from the sport on Thursday at age 38 after winning 22 Grand Slam singles titles during an unprecedented era he shared with his rivals in the so-called Big Three, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Nadal said he will retire after next month’s Davis Cup finals that will be played in Malaga, Spain.

"Really, everything I have experienced has been a dream come true," Nadal said in an announcement on social media. "I leave with the absolute peace of mind of having given my best, of having made an effort in every way."

The Spaniard indicated his decision was related to persistent injury problems.

"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 a beginning and an end," Nadal said.

Nadal’s unrelenting, physical style of play — every point pursued as though it were his last, sprinting and sliding into place for that high-bouncing bullwhip of a lefty forehand — made him one of the greats of the game and the unquestioned King of Clay, the slow, red surface on which he claimed his record 14 French Open championships.

That’s more than anyone, man or woman, won at any one of the sport’s four major tournaments, a dominance celebrated by a statue of Nadal that stands near the main entrance to the grounds of Roland Garros and in the shadow of its main stadium, Court Philippe Chatrier.

"14 thanks for the millions of memories," was the X post by Roland Garros.

Nadal also won four trophies at the U.S. Open and two apiece at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, giving him a career Grand Slam. His last pair arrived in 2022, at Melbourne in January and at Paris in June, pushing him ahead of Federer for the men’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles. Federer announced his retirement when he was 41 the end of the 2022 season, shortly before bidding adieu by teaming with Nadal in a doubles match at the Laver Cup.

Both have since been surpassed by Djokovic, who is up to 24.

"I want to thank the entire tennis industry, all the people involved in this sport, my long-time colleagues, especially my great rivals," Nadal said over images of him playing against Federer and Djokovic. "I have spent many hours with them and I have lived many moments that I will remember for the rest of my life."

So much of Nadal’s success was seen, fairly or not, through the prism of his encounters with Federer and Djokovic. The tennis world, and plenty outside of it, were consumed with the debate over which was most deserving of the "GOAT" — "Greatest Of All-Time" — moniker.

The world, tennis or otherwise, was fascinated by their matchups, their differing styles and personalities. Who among those who witnessed it could possibly forget Nadal vs. Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final? Or Nadal vs. Djokovic in the 2022 French Open quarterfinals? Or Nadal vs. Djokovic in the 2012 Australian Open final? And so on.

Nadal added Thursday that he was excited to finish his career at the Davis Cup, which will be played in Malaga, Spain.

"I am very excited that my last tournament will be the final of the Davis Cup and representing my country," he said. "I think I’ve come full circle since one of my first great joys as a professional tennis player was the Davis Cup final in Seville in 2004."

Nadal has not played since the Paris Olympics, where he lost to old rival Djokovic in the second round of the singles tournament and reached the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles with Carlos Alcaraz.

“I think it is the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined,” Nadal said.

Nadal played Djokovic 60 times; Djokovic leads 31-29 overall, while Nadal leads 5-4 in Slam finals.

Nadal met Federer 40 times; Nadal leads 24-16 overall, including 6-3 in Slam finals.

Nadal repeatedly dealt with, and frequently overcame, various injury issues over the years, and his 2023 and 2024 seasons were both limited because of hip and abdominal muscle problems.

Nadal hurt his hip flexor during a second-round loss at the Australian Open in January 2023, and wound up missing the rest of the year; there was an operation for that in June. After briefly making a comeback this January during a tuneup event for the Australian Open, he had to pull out of the year’s first major with a torn hip muscle, then was sidelined again until a return on his beloved clay at the Barcelona Open in April.

It was during a news conference at his tennis academy in Manacor, Spain, in May 2023, that Nadal said he would miss last year’s trip to Roland Garros for the first time since making his debut there — and, naturally, winning the event — in 2005 as a teenager.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis