October 10, 2024 04:14 PM (IST)
Rafael Nadal’s retirement marks the end of an era in tennis.
Rafael Nadal began a career that will be remembered as perhaps the greatest tennis player in history. The Spaniard released a heartfelt statement in a video on his social media handle. He said the Davis Cup final would be his last performance in the sport. Nadal’s Spain squad is scheduled to play the Netherlands in the quarterfinals from November 19 to 21, and Nadal was included in the squad after recovering from being eliminated in the group stage due to injury.
Nadal defined an era in men’s tennis that was dominated by him, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, and all three players continued to dominate the sport into the twilight of their careers. He initially made a name for himself by overcoming Federer’s dominance in the early 2000s, and has since established himself as a champion with a unique record, especially in clay court tournaments.
Important numbers from Rafael Nadal’s career:
22 – Number of Grand Slam titles Nadal will retire from. His 22nd title came at the 2022 French Open, which at the time was the most won by a male player in the history of the sport. This record was then broken by Djokovic
14 – Nadal has won the most French Open titles by any clay court Grand Slam player, male or female.
81 – Number of consecutive games won from 2005 to 2007. Longest record for side one in men’s singles in the Open Era
24 – The age at which Nadal won all four majors and became the youngest winner of the Open Era.
9 – Number of times Nadal lost matches on clay during his career
4 – Number of times a player won the French Open without dropping a set. Nadal is the only player to win four Grand Slam titles without dropping a set.
3 – Number of players who won a career Golden Slam. He won all four Grand Slams in his career and an Olympic gold medal. This includes Nadal. The other two players are Andre Agassi and Djokovic.
2 – Number of Olympic gold medals won by Nadal. The Spaniard won the gold medal in men’s singles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the doubles gold with Marc López at the 2016 Rio 2016 Olympics.
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