Tennis great Nadal announces retirement

PARIS – Rafael Nadal, who has won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, said on Thursday he was putting an end to his professional tennis career, a decision effective after the Davis Cup final.
“It has been some difficult years, these last two especially,” the 38-year-old Spaniard, who won a record 14 French Open titles, said in a video.
“I am very excited that my last tournament will be the Davis Cup representing my country. It’s closing the circle because one of my first joys was the final in Sevilla in 2004.”
The Davis Cup knockout phase will be played from Nov 19-24.
Nadal stood out from his peers and was admired by fans as a gritty fighter who rose to become one of the greatest tennis players of all time. He was known as the King of Clay for his dominance at the French Open, which he last won in 2022.
But his 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.
He won his last Roland Garros title in 2022 and left the Paris clay on a jaw-dropping 112-4 win-loss record.
Nadal will leave the sport as its second-highest earner of career prize money with more than $130 million.
He trails only Novak Djokovic, who has so far amassed $184 million in his career, according to the ATP Tour website.
Nadal has also made millions from sponsorship deals, including a longtime partnership with Nike Inc. He got his own logo from the company in 2013.
Nadal hasn’t said what his next steps will be. He’s slated to play in the Six Kings Slam exhibition tournament in the coming weeks hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Nadal will compete against Djokovic, world number one Jannik Sinner, fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz and others. The winner will receive a $6 million prize, more than any of the professional Grand Slam tournaments.