MADRID — Rafael Nadal is retiring from professional tennis at age 38, he announced Thursday, after winning 22 Grand Slam titles — 14 at the French Open — during an unprecedented era he shared with rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Nadal has competed infrequently the past two seasons because of injuries, and he said next month’s Davis Cup finals will mark his farewell to the sport. The Spaniard had hip surgery in 2023 and entered just two of the past eight major tournaments.
“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,” Nadal said in a video message. “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’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” in Paris.
His record 14 French Open championships are more singles titles than anyone, man or woman, has won at any one of the four major tournaments. That dominance is celebrated by a statue of Nadal near the main entrance to the grounds of Roland Garros and in the shadow of its main stadium, Court Philippe Chatrier.
In a result that symbolized where things stood for his body, and career, he exited in the French Open’s first round this year, a straight-sets loss to eventual runner-up Alexander Zverev.
Nadal returned to that site in southwest Paris for the Summer Olympics, where he lost to old rival Djokovic in the second round of singles and reached the quarterfinals of men’s doubles with young star Carlos Alcaraz. Nadal hasn’t played since. His goodbye will also come while representing Spain, in the Davis Cup at Malaga.
“Your legacy won’t be matched,” Alcaraz, who is widely seen as Nadal’s heir in Spanish tennis and already owns four Grand Slam titles, said Thursday. “I have enjoyed you, and I will miss you very much when you retire after the Davis Cup.”
Soccer greats Kylian Mbappé and Cristiano Ronaldo were among stars from other corners of the sports world also paying tribute to Nadal.
In addition to his French Open triumphs, Nadal won four trophies at the hard-court U.S. Open and two apiece at Wimbledon, which is played on grass, and the hard-court Australian Open, giving him a career Grand Slam and then some.
“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.
His last pair of major titles arrived in 2022, with those Australian Open and French Open crowns pushing him ahead of Federer, who held the men’s record of 20 Grand Slam singles titles when he announced his retirement at age 41. Federer bid adieu in late 2022 by teaming with Nadal in a doubles match at the Laver Cup.
Both have since been surpassed by Djokovic, 37, who is up to 24 majors.
So much of Nadal’s success was seen, fairly or not, through the prism of his encounters with those two rivals. The tennis world, and plenty outside of it, were consumed with the debate over which was most deserving of the moniker as the greatest of all time in men’s tennis. 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 versus Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final? Or Nadal versus Djokovic in the 2022 French Open quarterfinals? Or Nadal versus Djokovic in the 2012 Australian Open final? And so on.
Nadal played Djokovic 60 times, a record for two men in the Open era; Djokovic leads 31-29 overall, while Nadal exits with a 5-4 edge in Grand Slam finals.
“You have inspired millions of children to start playing tennis and I think that’s probably (the) greatest achievement anyone can wish for,” Djokovic said on Instagram. “Your tenacity, dedication, fighting spirit is going to be taught for decades. Your legacy will live forever … Thank you for pushing me to the very limit so many times in our rivalry that has impacted me the most as a player.”
Nadal met Federer 40 times; Nadal led 24-16 overall, including 6-3 in Grand Slam finals.
“Thank you for the unforgettable memories and all your incredible achievements in the game we love,” Federer told Nadal via social media.
It’s certainly apt that Nadal’s last major title came at the French Open (with him beating Djokovic along the way) two years ago — and while getting painkilling injections for chronic pain in his left foot. He repeatedly dealt with, and frequently overcame, various injuries 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.
Dating to late in 2022, when he was beaten in the fourth round of the French Open by American player Frances Tiafoe, Nadal is just 14-14, including 12-7 this year.
His overall resumé, though, is unimpeachable: a total of 209 weeks at No. 1 in the ATP Tour rankings and nearly 18 years’ worth of consecutive weeks in the top 10; 92 singles titles; a 1,080-227 win-loss record; and just shy of $135 million in prize money.
“Really, everything I have experienced has been a dream come true,” Nadal said. “I leave with the absolute peace of mind of having given my best, of having made an effort in every way.”