5 months after formally retiring, 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal stated he doesn’t miss tennis — not within the slightest.
“The reality is I do not miss it. In reality, I miss it zero,” he stated Monday after receiving the Sporting Icon honor on the Laureus World Sports activities Awards in Madrid, Spain. “However I miss it zero not as a result of I completed bored with tennis or preventing in opposition to tennis. In no way, the exact opposite. I completed proud of tennis.”
Nadal introduced his plans to retire final October, and formally performed his final match on the Davis Cup on Nov. 19, 2024.
Rafael Nadal formally retires; receives messages from David Beckham, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, others
Isabel Gonzalez
He walked away from the sport after 23 years on the age of 38 as one of the profitable gamers in tennis historical past with a 1080–228 profession report, 92 ATP Tour titles and two Olympic gold medals on high of his dominance in Grand Slams. He was significantly prolific on clay with 63 titles on the floor, together with a report 14 French Open titles.
Nadal was a part of the Large Three of tennis together with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, who retired in 2022. Each Nadal and Federer cited accidents as the key cause for saying goodbye to the game they love. Even lately, Nadal was nonetheless a drive to be reckoned with, as he confirmed in 2022 by successful the Australian and French Open titles.
Whereas he stated he does not miss taking part in now that he’s retired, Nadal shared he would nonetheless be doing it if he have been bodily capable of carry out at a excessive stage. He gave himself loads of time to resolve, however finally he is aware of he made the suitable choice.
“If it had been doable, I might nonetheless be taking part in as a result of I cherished what I did,” he stated. “I used to be obsessed with it and it has been like that my complete life. It is simply that once you understand you may’t do it anymore, you attempt to shut that chapter. And I closed it.”
