“Thank you all very much.” It is with this message so feared by many fans that the Spanish tennis player, Rafael Nadal, announced this Thursday his retirement from the professional circuit at the age of 38, in a video posted on his social networks.
“I am here to tell you that I am leaving professional tennis. “Everything in life has a beginning and an end and I think the time has come to end my career, which has been long and more successful than I could have imagined.” he says in the video.
Roland-Garros, his second home
He will play one last team competition with Spain in the Davis Cup in Malaga from November 19 to 24, before putting his racket away for good. “I am very excited that my last tournament will be the Davis Cup Final, and to represent my country there. I think it’s a way of coming full circle when one of my first great joys as a professional player was the final (won in 2004 in Séveille),” added the Mallorcan.
His retirement is now official for the man who had spent the last two years trying to regain his form after numerous injuries.
We nevertheless thought that he would continue until 2025, after having, in particular, postponed his farewell during the last Roland-Garros, the Grand Slam tournament which he won the most with 14 titles for a total of 22 Grand Slams. This is also one of the reasons why he was one of the last bearers of the Olympic flame, during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, proof of the close link he maintains with the French capital.
