22-time Grand Slam champ Nadal to retire after stellar career following injury-hit final season

Rafael Nadal will call time on his illustrious but injury-plagued career after next month's Davis Cup Finals, the 22-time Grand Slam champion announced on Thursday, as one of the greatest players in tennis history prepares for an emotional farewell.

Nadal, who won a record 14 French Open titles, had said previously that he expected to retire this year after a hip injury that required surgery limited his appearances in 2023.

The 38-year-old was a surprise selection for the Davis Cup Final Eight in Malaga, Spain, between November 19 and 24 after last competing at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics in July, and subsequently missing the U.S. Open and Laver Cup due to fitness concerns.

"I am here to let you know I am retiring from professional tennis. The reality is it has been some difficult years, these last two especially. I don't think I have been able to play without limitations," Nadal said in a video announcement posted 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, 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," added the former World No. 1.

Nadal, who has won two Australian Opens, two Wimbledon crowns and four U.S. Opens, plus Olympic singles and doubles gold medals and four Davis Cups, on top of his multiple French Open titles, said finishing his career in Spanish colors at this year's Davis Cup feels right. He will link up again with four-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz, after the duo played together at Paris 2024.

"I am very excited that my last tournament will be the final of the Davis Cup and representing my country," said Nadal. "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. I feel super, super lucky for all the things I've been able to experience."

Nadal has been no stranger to injuries in his 23-year career. He sustained a lingering hip injury at the Australian Open in early 2023, before missing the French Open later that year and undergoing surgery to try to prolong his career. But minor issues and fitness woes limited him to just 23 matches over the last two seasons.

Nadal returned to his favorite hunting ground of Roland Garros earlier this season, but was beaten in the opening round of the French Open by Germany's Alexander Zverev, before politely turning down a celebratory farewell in hopes of returning for a final hurrah next year.

Now he will bow out in front of a cheering home crowd in Malaga instead.