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Rafael Nadal - Roland Garros 2024
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Rafael Nadal announces retirement and reveals what his ‘last tournament’ will be


Rafael Nadal has announced that he will retire from professional tennis at the end of this season, bringing an end to his 23-year career. 

Nadal has played only 27 matches in the past two years, with his last coming at the Paris Olympic Games alongside Carlos Alcaraz.

In those two years the Spaniard has had very public injury struggles, that began at the 2023 Australian Open after tearing his psoas muscle.

As a result, there have been a lot of question marks over what the future holds for Nadal and now he has answered them in a video on social media confirming that he will retire at the Davis Cup Finals.

“Hello everyone, I’m here to let you know that I am retiring from professional tennis,” said Nadal. “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 and I think it’s the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined.”

The 38-year-old added, “I am very excited that my last tournament will be the final of the Davis Cup and representing my country. 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 Sevilla in 2004.”

Nadal has won 92 singles titles in his career, including 22 Grand Slams, 36 Masters 1000 titles and Olympic gold back at the Beijing Games in 2008.

Of the 22 Grand Slam trophies in Nadal’s cabinet, 14 of those have come at Roland Garros which has enabled him to be labelled the ‘king of clay’, having won more titles at the tournament than any other player.

Nadal will next be seen on court at the ‘Six Kings Slam’ exhibition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, before heading to Malaga to represent Spain at the Davis Cup Finals.

Spain have selected a team with Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Roberto Bautista Agut, Pablo Carreno Busta and Marcel Granollers, as they take on the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.

The Davis Cup Finals take place between 19th and 24th November in Malaga, as Nadal bids farewell to tennis.

Inside the baseline…

Many have been asking this question for a while, with Rafael Nadal giving mixed answers about his future and now he has finally put all of this speculation to rest. Although it is sad, it does feel like the right time for Nadal to say farewell to the sport and what better way to do it than representing your country in front of your home crowd. With Roger Federer, Andy Murray and now Nadal retiring, it really does feel like an era is coming to an end. What a career Nadal has had, one of the greatest ever and the best clay court player in history.

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Matthew Johns, Tennishead Writer, is a professional tennis journalist with a specialist degree in Sports Journalism. He's a keen tennis player having represented his local club and University plus he's also a qualified tennis coach. Matthew has a deep knowledge of tennis especially the ATP Tour and thrives on breaking big tennis news stories for Tennishead.