Rafael Nadal’s career ended a few weeks ago, but his legacy will last forever. The 22-time Grand Slam champion hoped to achieve better results in his last dance, in which he was expected to participate in the most important events of his career.
The former world number 1 played the French Open and the Paris Olympics, practicing hard and showing up in fair condition despite injuries. The Spanish legend was not lucky in the draw, surrendering to German ace Sascha Zverev at Roland Garros and his eternal rival Novak Djokovic in the Olympic tournament.
Rafa also failed to win a medal in doubles alongside his young compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, who struggled a lot due to his lack of experience in this specialty. Their run ended in the quarterfinals, leaving some regrets because the medals were not so far away.
Nadal© Via X Davis Cup
After the Olympics, the 14-time French Open champion took a long time to reflect on his future and decide if it made sense to continue playing. Nadal had thought of playing some tournaments in 2025 as well, but changed his mind when he realized that it would be impossible to compete for the most prestigious titles.
The Spaniard represented his country for the last time at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, where the result was far from expectations. Spain’s run ended against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals and the farewell ceremony in Rafa’s honour was quite sad, also due to the absence of many VIPs and tennis legends.
Icons such as Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Pau Gasol were supposed to be present in Malaga, but their arrival was scheduled for the semi-finals and Spain’s premature elimination upset all plans.
An inevitable decision
In an exclusive interview with Eurosport, former ATP ace Tim Henman opened up on Rafa’s retirement: “Look, I think when you talk about retirement for any player, it’s really not straightforward to plan it.
And with the injuries and all the different challenges that Rafa had and with the schedule, I think to be representing your country in Davis Cup in your home country is very special. So I think it was a good send-off.
And I hope Rafa felt comfortable with that. He’s just been an absolute icon of our sport. But for the Spanish people to get to see him one last time at home, I think was very, very special.”
Rafael Nadal© Tenis Espana/Instagram – Fair Use
Tim also added: “From the outside looking in, I think it was the right time. He’s given so much to the sport. The sport takes so much out of him physically and mentally. And I just don’t know whether his body could take it any longer.
So I think it was a good time to step down and give Rafa the time to reflect on just the incredible achievements that he’s had in this sport.”
New projects
A few days ago, it was announced that Nadal will star in a documentary on Netflix that promises to tell new details about his career. The documentary will focus mainly on the last moments of the former world number 1’s career, but it will also be very useful to get to know a different side of Rafa’s personality.
Meanwhile, the 22-time Grand Slam champion traveled to Jeddah to attend the Next Gen ATP Finals, which are taking place these days.
Many fans and insiders are wondering if Nadal will have a definite role on the ATP tour in the future. It is almost certain that he will not become a coach like Andy Murray, but his experience could be very useful to allow tennis to grow further. It would be a big mistake to exclude him from decisions relating to the future of this sport, but it will depend on Rafa’s willingness to stay in touch with the greatest passion of his life.
Rafael Nadal, Davis Cup Finals 2024© Stream screenshot
In an essay for ‘The Players’ Tribune’, the Spaniard revealed how many lessons he learned thanks to tennis: “Tennis is also a teacher of life itself. Most of the time, you don’t win the tournament you play. It doesn’t matter who you are, at the end of many weeks, you have lost. Real life is the same. You learn how to live with the moments of joy and the moments of pain, and you try to treat them the same.
In the good moments, I never thought I was Superman, and in the bad moments, I never thought I was a failure. What makes you grow as a person is life itself — the failures, the nerves, the heartache, the joy, the process of waking up every day and trying to be a little better to achieve your goals.”
Tennis World USA