5 months after formally retiring, 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal mentioned he doesn’t miss tennis — not within the slightest.
“The reality is I do not miss it. Actually, I miss it zero,” he said 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 uninterested in tennis or preventing in opposition to tennis. Under no circumstances, the exact opposite. I completed pleased with 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 officially 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 some of the profitable gamers in tennis historical past with a 1080–228 profession file, 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 file 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 most important cause for saying goodbye to the game they love. Even in recent times, Nadal was nonetheless a power to be reckoned with, as he confirmed in 2022 by profitable the Australian and French Open titles.
Whereas he mentioned he does not miss enjoying 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 in the end he is aware of he made the best determination.
“If it had been potential, I might nonetheless be enjoying as a result of I liked what I did,” he mentioned. “I used to be enthusiastic about it and it has been like that my entire life. It is simply that if you understand you’ll be able to’t do it anymore, you attempt to shut that chapter. And I closed it.”
