'Many Thanks to All': Rafael Nadal to Retire After Davis Cup Final in November

Rafael Nadal took to social media to announce that Davis Cup final in November will be his last as the tennis superstar announced his retirement.

“Many thanks to all,” he wrote in a post on social media.

“I am retiring from professional tennis. The reality is that it has been some difficult years, these last two especially,” Nadal said in the video on social media.

“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 added he was “very excited” to finish his career at the Davis Cup, which will be played in Malaga, Spain.

Nadal will bring down cutrains on a career in which he won 22 Grand Slam titles – including a record 14 French Open titles – as well as Olympic singles gold.

The 38-year-old Spaniard is set to end his two decades as a professional with 92 titles and prize money alone of $135 million.

Nadal was a five-time year-end world number one and never left the top 10 from 2005 until March this year.

In total, he spent 209 weeks in top spot and between 2004 and 2022, won at least one title every year.

Nadal’s career has been hampered by injuries and he missed the 2023 French Open and was beaten in the first round by German Alexander Zverev this year.

Ankle, wrist, knee, elbow and abdominal problems caused him to sit out 16 Grand Slam tournaments and withdraw mid-event on five occasions at the majors.

In fact, the Spaniard 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. He won his last Roland Garros title in 2022 and left the Paris clay on a jaw-dropping 112-4 win-loss record.

The Davis Cup knockout phase will be played from Nov. 19-24.

(With inputs from Agencies)